A5 (North Wales)

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what steps he is taking to tackle the impact on road traffic in England of the long-term closure of the A5 in North Wales; and what information he has received about when it is likely to open again.

Peter Hain: The Welsh Assembly Government took the decision to close a short section of the A5, between Ty Nant and Dinmael, in the interests of public safety. The Assembly Government are continuing to work with local authorities, business and tourist representatives to minimise any adverse effects.
	In understand that remedial works could take around six months to complete, depending on site conditions. However, the meantime, urgent steps have been taken to provide an alternative route to alleviate pressures. As a result, the old A5 was re-opened to vehicles not exceeding 7.5 tonnes on 16 June.

Staff Absenteeism

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many working days were lost to his Department and its executive agencies in each year since 1997 due to staff absenteeism, expressed as the average annual number of absent days per employee; and what the estimated total cost to the Department and its agencies of absenteeism was in each year.

Peter Hain: Since 2004 the Wales Office has formed part of the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) for sickness monitoring purposes. Prior to 2004 it was included with those of the National Assembly for Wales.
	Figures regarding sickness absence are contained in the annual report, "Analysis of Sickness Absence in the Civil Service", published by the Cabinet Office. Reports for each year since 1999 are available in the Library and on the civil service website at:
	http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/management/occupational_health/publications/index.asp
	The figures relating to the Wales Office are not available separately, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Payment Schemes

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the cost was of compiling, printing and posting the leaflet Single Payment Scheme: Additional Cross-compliance Requirements; and whether there are plans to issue further single payment scheme publications in the current financial year.

Barry Gardiner: The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has not issued a publication entitled the Single Payment Scheme: Additional Cross-compliance Requirements. RPA did publish recently a supplement of the Cross Compliance Handbook for England 2006, for which the cost of compiling, printing and posting was £85,871.00
	There are plans to produce a 2007 version of the Cross Compliance Handbook for England, incorporating any new statutory management requirements that have to be implemented under EU Regulations and a 2007 supplement for the current Set aside Handbook and Guidance.

Energy Provision

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much public subsidy was given to the  (a) nuclear,  (b) oil,  (c) gas,  (d) coal and  (e) renewables generating industries in each of the past 30 years.

Malcolm Wicks: The information requested is as follows:
	 Nuclear
	Available figures for nuclear subsidies are given in the following table. Figures are based on the premium received by Nuclear Electric plc over and above the market price for electricity in the period 1990-96. Figures dating back to 1974 could not be obtained without disproportionate cost.
	
		
			   £ million 
			 1990-91 1,265 
			 1991-92 798 
			 1992-93 864 
			 1993-94 895 
			 1994-95 892 
			 1995-96 699 
			 1996-97 0 
			 1997-98 0 
			 1998-99 0 
			 1999-2000 0 
			 2000-01 0 
			 2001-02 0 
			 2002-03 0 
		
	
	With the exception of British Energy, there have been no public subsidies to the nuclear generating sector since privatisation. In terms of British Energy, a loan facility was provided to the company in 2002 to support it through its restructuring. This loan was re-paid in full with interest in December 2003 and no further drawings can be made. As a result of the restructuring which completed in January 2005, the Government have taken direct financial responsibility for BE's historic spent fuel liabilities. The following payments have been made since restructuring to meet those historic spent fuel liabilities:
	2004-05—£185 million;
	2005-06—£189 million.
	The Government are also underwriting British Energy's decommissioning fund to the extent that its liabilities outweigh its assets. In return, the company is making enhanced payments into the fund. On current valuations, the assets of the fund exceed the liabilities.
	 Oil and gas
	I am not aware of any subsidies to the oil and gas generating industries over the last 10 years. Further, historic, information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	 Coal
	I am not aware of any subsidies to the coal generating industries over the last 10 years. Further, historic, information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	 Renewables
	Information on how much was spent by Government on renewable energy research, development, dissemination and demonstration, between 1989 and 1997, was published by my hon. Friend, the then Energy Minister to the hon. Member for Lewes, on 24 March 2000,  Official Report, column 715W.
	The statistics indicate that investment in renewable energy remained broadly unchanged between 1989 and 1996 at under £26 million a year. This compares to Government spending of around £500 million in renewables and other low carbon technologies between 2002 and 2008. The Chancellor also recently announced in the Budget a further £50 million, on top of the £30 million that I had previously announced, for the Low Carbon Building Programme, which supports micro-generation and energy efficiency measures.
	Further, historic, information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Aircraft Carriers

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his latest estimate is of the date when a firm order will be placed for each of the future aircraft carriers.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 14 June 2006
	The future aircraft carrier (CVF) programme is in its demonstration phase. This will develop and deliver a mature design; provide a more detailed cost definition; further reduce risk within the programme; and, produce a contractual framework that will allow a decision to be made to commit to manufacture. Only when we are satisfied that all this work is sufficiently mature will the main investment decision be taken and orders placed.

RAF Menwith Hill

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much has been spent on security patrolling of the roads around RAF Menwith Hill by the Ministry of Defence Police Agency in each year since 2003.

Adam Ingram: The approximate totals spent by the US authorities on security patrolling of the
	roads around RAF Menwith Hill by the Ministry of Defence Police are set out in the table on a year by year basis:
	
		
			   £ 
			 2003-04 531,000.00 
			 2004-05 560,000.00 
			 2005-06 608,000.00

Pakistan

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if she will make representations to the Pakistan authorities on the abduction of Christian children from their villages in the Punjab, Pakistan, by the militant Islamic group Jumait-ul-Daawa.

Kim Howells: We are aware of the report in the Sunday Times of 21 May 2006 that Jamaat-ul-Daawa are involved in the abduction of Pakistani Christian children. Our high commission in Islamabad is currently looking into this. We have not so far raised the question with the Pakistani authorities.

Building Regulations

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many complaints she has received about the operation of Part P of the Building Regulations since it was reformed; which organisations have written to her opposing those changes; and if she will make a statement.

Angela Smith: Part P was reformed by way of an amendment to the Building Regulations (SI 2006 No 652) on 6 April 2006. During April and May, the Department for Communities and Local Government received around 200 inquiries about Part P. The majority asked for further information or clarification, while around 10 per cent. were general complaints. The Department is aware of only one letter from an individual complaining specifically about the amendment, and a letter in February from the Electrical Safety council opposing the proposed changes.

City Region Meetings

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans she has for her Department to organise further city region meetings.

Phil Woolas: As part of the Government's work on cities and towns, last year Ministers held summits with each of the eight core cities: Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield. This year, Ministers have held summits with smaller cities and towns: with Regional Cities East on 10 March; with Central Lancashire on 15 May; with Coastal Towns on 16 May; and with Tees Valley and Hull and the Humber on 22 May. We plan to hold two further summits this year, one with towns and cities in the South-West and the second with towns and cities in the Midlands and South-East (the "Growing Places" summit). We also plan to hold two mini-summits, in Stoke-on-Trent and in York. The dates of these four events have not been finalised.
	Following the summits of last autumn, the eight core cities were asked to develop business cases for their areas, setting out their vision and related barriers and enablers, Birmingham and Manchester have presented these to Ministers and further presentations for the remaining six cities are planned or expected during this and the next few months.
	The Secretary of State will also be attending the Core Cities annual summit, in Bristol on 26-27 June.

Fire Service

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps she is taking to encourage more  (a) women and  (b) ethnic minority candidates to apply to join the Fire Service; what questions are asked of applicants to assess commitment to equality and diversity; what measures she has put in place to ensure more (i) women and (ii) ethnic minority staff have access to senior positions; what targets have been set for representative numbers of women and ethnic minorities within the whole service; and if she will make a statement.

Angela Smith: The Fire and Rescue National Framework set out the Government's commitment to achieve greater diversity within the fire and rescue service. We are supporting the service to build a more diverse work force, including women, ethnic minorities and other under-represented groups.
	On 16 May I announced the launch of a national awareness raising advertising campaign aimed specifically at women to encourage them to consider a career as a firefighter. We have developed national firefighter selection tests with the aim of ensuring fairness and consistency in selection procedures across the service. The new process will require all applicants to be asked to demonstrate their commitment to equality and diversity in their responses to questions at the application form, written test and interview stages. These are designed to identify that they understand 2nd respect diversity and have a fair and ethical approach to others.
	The repeal of the Fire Services (Appointments and Promotion) Regulations in October 2004 has enabled people to apply to join the fire and rescue service at any level in the organisation, including strategic management. In addition, recruitment, retention and career progression targets for women and ethnic minority staff have been set for every fire and rescue service.
	The existing targets strategies have been reviewed and a new strategy will be published in 2006 following consultation with stakeholders.

Staff Absenteeism

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many working days have been lost to the Department and its executive agencies in each year since 1997 due to staff absenteeism, expressed as the average annual number of absent days per employee; and what the estimated total cost to the Department and its agencies of absenteeism was in each year.

Angela Smith: The Department for Communities and Local Government was created on 5 May 2006 and its predecessor, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, was created on 29 May 2002. The number of days lost due to sickness and costs are contained in the annual report "Analysis of Sickness Absence in the Civil Service" published by the Cabinet Office. Reports for 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004 are available in the House of Commons Library and on the Cabinet Office website at: http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/management/conditions_of_service/publications

Valuation Office Agency

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 22 May 2006,  Official Report, column 1444W, on the Valuation Office Agency, whether the Valuation Office Agency's council tax automated valuation model holds  (a) data from the index of multiple deprivation and  (b) crime statistics in any form.

Phil Woolas: The Valuation Office Agency's (VGA's) automated valuation model (AVM) neither  (a) uses nor  (b) holds data on these matters.

Health Services (Gloucestershire)

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will meet the Overview and Scrutiny Committee in Gloucestershire to discuss issues arising from the review of health services there.

Caroline Flint: Avon Gloucester and Wiltshire Strategic Health Authority launched its formal consultation on 12 June on "The Future of Healthcare in Gloucestershire Proposals for Developing Sustainable NHS Services" which will conclude on 4 September. Should the members of the overview and scrutiny committee feel that at the end of the consultation they have issues to raise they have the power to make a formal referral to Secretary of State.

Operations (Day Cases)

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health why her Department's Autumn Performance Report 2005 (Cm 6704) states that 70 per cent. of planned procedures now take place as day cases (p. 16), when the data placed in the Library relating to the answer of 17 May 2006,  Official Report, column 1117W, on operations, implies that the proportion of procedures performed as day cases has been at 50 per cent. since 2002-03.

Andy Burnham: The data from the Department's Autumn Performance Report 2005 is elective activity, which includes waiting list, booked and planned admissions. The data in the answer of 17 May includes all elective and non-elective operations including emergency admissions, which reduces the day case rate.

Overview and Scrutiny Committees

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the process for overview and scrutiny committee reports to the Department of Health; what action she takes in the light of such a report; and what powers she has to order an independent inquiry into the proposals that  (a) a strategic health authority,  (b) a primary care and  (c) an NHS trust including foundation trusts produce.

Andy Burnham: The Local Authority (Overview and Scrutiny of Health Scrutiny Functions) Regulations 2002 provide for an overview and scrutiny committee to refer a case to the Secretary of State where the committee considers that consultation has been inadequate or the proposal is not in the interests of the health service in its area. The Secretary of State will consider the referral alongside information provided by the local national health service and departmental officials. The Secretary of State may ask for independent advice on the referral, which may be from the independent reconfiguration panel or a different source. Where the proposal relates to a NHS foundation trust, the overview and scrutiny committee refers the case to Monitor, who may also seek independent advice.

Primary Care Trusts (Hertfordshire)

Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the two new primary care trusts to be introduced to cover Hertfordshire will  (a) be run by separate management teams and  (b) be headed by separately appointed chairmen and chief executives; and if she will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: holding answer 16 June 2006
	Currently, the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Strategic Health Authority (SHA), which will form part of the new East of England SHA with effect from 1 July, is in discussions with stakeholders, including all local Members of Parliament, about shared management options for the two new primary care trusts (PCTs) in Hertfordshire.
	No decisions will be taken until that process has been completed.
	Each PCT will retain its own board and with its own chair.

Whole Sport Plan

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 12 June 2006,  Official Report, column 946W, on the Whole Sport Plan, how much of the £158.5 million has been spent; how much is allocated to each of the 34 priority and development sports; and how much is allocated to each of the other 12 sports.

Richard Caborn: holding answer 16 June 2006
	Of the £158.5 million so far committed by Sport England through Whole Sport Plans £65.3 million has been spent to date.
	Of the £158.5 million a total of £157 million has been committed to the 34 priority and development sports and £1.5 million has been committed to 12(1) other sports.
	The table shows a breakdown of funding 'committed' and 'committed in principal' to each sport.
	
		
			  Sport England: whole sport plan awards 2005 to 2009 
			  £ 
			  34 priority and development sports  WSP funding committed as at 14 June 2006  WSP funding committed 'in principle' as at 14 June 2006 
			 Angling 369,999 369,998 
			 Athletics 2,646,000 830,000 
			 Badminton 10,290,555 0 
			 Baseball/Softball 1,240,000 0 
			 Basketball 1,773,500 1,000,000 
			 Boxing 2,555,000 0 
			 Canoeing 3,560,000 0 
			 Cricket 13,400,000 0 
			 Cycling 8,100,055 0 
			 Equestrian 1,900,000 0 
			 Football 4,500,000 0 
			 Golf 8,171,000 0 
			 Gymnastics 3,729,948 0 
			 Hockey 5,410,000 0 
			 Judo 3,826,000 0 
			 Karate 950,000 1,000,000 
			 Lacrosse 1,260,000 0 
			 Modern Pentathlon 789,000 0 
			 Mountaineering 750,000 0 
			 Movement and Dance 318,500 300,000 
			 Netball 10,800,000 0 
			 Orienteering 750,000 750,000 
			 Rounders 450,000 0 
			 Rowing 5,622,000 0 
			 Rugby League 9,910,000 0 
			 Rugby Union 6,490,000 3,000,000 
			 Sailing 5,509,000 0 
			 Squash 6,205,000 0 
			 Swimming and Diving 11,393,000 0 
			 Table Tennis 3,833,480 0 
			 Tennis 8,500,000 0 
			 Triathlon 2,521,400 0 
			 Volleyball 1,465,000 0 
			 Waterskiing 700,000 0 
			  149,688,437 7,249,998 
			 Total 156,938,435 
			
			  12 other sports   
			 Archery 30,000 15,000 
			 Bowls 213,500 (1)0 
			 Caving 7,500 0 
			 Fencing 80,000 30,000 
			 Handball 10,500 0 
			 Ice Skating 136,875 25,000 
			 Petanque 5,000 0 
			 Real Tennis 9,000 0 
			 Shooting 402,500 (2)0 
			 Skiing 70,000 30,000 
			 Surf Life Saving 10,500 0 
			 Taekwondo 30,000 (2)0 
			 Tug of War 4,750 0 
			 Weightlifting 388,000 30,000 
			 Wrestling 15,000 0 
			 Yoga 6,000 (2)0 
			  1,419,125 130,000 
			 Total 1,549,125 
			 Total 158,487,560 
			 (1) No whole sport plan submitted.  (2 )No longer funded. 
		
	
	(1) The table shows 16 'other' sports but four of those are no longer funded or did not submit a whole sport plan.

Special Envoys

Norman Baker: To ask the Prime Minister which individuals have acted for him as Special Envoys since May 2005; what their function was in each case; and which countries each has visited.

Tony Blair: In his capacity as Special Envoy to Afghanistan, Lieutenant-General John McColl helped coordinate high-level dialogue between President Karzai and me. Lieutenant McColl visited Afghanistan in his capacity as Special Envoy.
	My right hon. Friend the Member for Cynon Valley (Ann Clwyd) is a Special Envoy on Human Rights in Iraq. My right hon. Friend has visited Belgium, Iraq and the United States since May 2005, to report back to me on developments regarding human rights issues in Iraq, as well as raising issues with Iraqi and international interlocutors.
	My noble Friend right hon. Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean is a Special Envoy to the Two kingdoms Dialogue (UK-Saudi Arabia), reporting to my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary. My noble Friend accompanied the then Foreign Secretary (Mr. Straw) to Riyadh in April 2006 and co-chaired the one-day Two Kingdoms Dialogue conference. In October 2005 I also appointed my noble Friend as my Special Representative to assist the Government's efforts to conclude Memoranda of Understanding, and associated arrangements, to facilitate the deportation from the UK of foreign nationals who represent a threat to the national security or whose presence in the UK is not conducive to the public good, with a number of Middle East and North African countries.
	In his capacity as my special representative to the Sultan of Brunei, Lord Powell of Bayswater undertakes meetings to discuss a wide range of matters of bilateral interest as well as regional and international issues.
	In respect of Lord Levy I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker) on 17 March 2006,  Official Report, Columns 2581- 82W.

Veterans' Day

Mark Harper: To ask the Prime Minister what events he will be hosting in Downing Street on Veterans' Day in celebration of veterans; and to which  (a) individuals,  (b) groups and  (c) hon. and right hon. Members invitations to such events have been extended.

Tony Blair: I will be holding a reception at Downing Street to mark Veterans' Day. Representatives from nearly 40 Veterans associations, along with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence (Mr. Browne), my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr. Brown) and my right hon. Friend the Minister for Veterans (Mr. Watson) have been invited. Those attending the reception have been selected to represent as broad a range of veterans' experience, service and age as possible.

Foreign Travel

Philip Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much was spent on foreign travel by her Department in each of the last eight years.

Hilary Armstrong: The Cabinet Office Resource Accounting System does not hold information on overseas travel by officials detailed to the level that is required to answer this question, and it could be answered only at disproportionate cost.
	Since 1999 the Government have published, on an annual basis, the total costs of all ministerial overseas travel and a list of all visits by Cabinet Ministers costing in excess of £500. This information is available in the Library. Information for the financial year 2004-05 was published on 21 July 2005,  Official Report, column 158WS. Information for the financial year 2005-06 is in the process of being collated and will be published shortly.
	All foreign travel under taken by Ministers and civil servants is undertaken in accordance with the requirements of the "Ministerial Code" and the "Civil Service Management Code".

Wage and Administration Expenditure

Oliver Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much was spent on  (a) wages and salaries and  (b) total administration of the (i) Cabinet Office, (ii) Prime Minister's offices and (iii) Central Office of Information in each year since 1996-97, including the estimated outturn for 2005-06; and what the planned expenditure is for (A) 2006-07 and (B) 2007-08.

Hilary Armstrong: The Prime Minister's office is an integral part of Cabinet Office and is included in this response.
	Details of the Cabinet Office, including the Prime Minister's Office, expenditure on wages, salaries and total administration costs in 1999-2000, 2000-01, 2001-02, 2002-03, 2003-04 and 2004-05 can be found in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Resource Accounts, schedule 2 (Cm 5053—page 14, Cm 5443—page 11, HC346—page 21, HC185—page 21, HC1190—page 27, and HC372—page 23 respectively).
	Copies of these reports are available in the Library and the reports for 2000-01, 2003-04 and 2004-05 are available on the Cabinet Office website at http://www. cabinetoffice.gov.uk/reports/annualreport/index.asp.
	For 1996-97, 1997-98 and 1998-99, administration costs for the Cabinet Office can be found in the Cabinet Office Appropriation Accounts (HC 251-XV11—page 6, HC 1-XVII—page 6 and HC 11-XVII—page 6 respectively) copies of which are available in the Library. Expenditure on wages and salaries is not separately identifiable for these years.
	2005-06 figures are subject to final audit, but are estimated to be:
	
		
			   £000 
			 Wages and salaries 101,400 
			 Administration costs 167,700 
		
	
	On a like-for-like basis, planned expenditure in 2006-07 and 2007-08 is expected to be at a level similar to 2005-06, other than for the effects of inflation and Cabinet Offices' continuing strive for efficiency. However, wages, salaries and total administration costs are likely to vary as a result of machinery of government changes.
	Details of wages, salaries and total administration costs for the Central Office of Information for the years 1996-97 to 2004-05 are contained in COI's annual report and accounts, (pages 5, 6, 6, 7, 22, 32, 41 and 42 respectively) which are available in the Library on the COI website, at: http://www.coi.gov.uk/aboutcoi.php?page=56.
	2005-06 figures are subject to final audit, but are expected to be:
	
		
			   £000 
			 Wages and salaries 22,480 
			 Administration costs 37,008 
		
	
	On a like-for-like basis, planned expenditure in 2006-07 and 2007-08 is expected to be at a level similar to 2005-06, other than for the effects of inflation and COI's continuing efficiency target to reduce the unit cost of output by 2.5 per cent. per annum. However, wages, salaries and total administration costs will increase because of the transfer of Directgov and the Media Monitoring Unit from Cabinet Office to COI from 1 April 2006.

Data Protection

James Gray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 5 June 2006,  Official Report, column 177W, on the Data Protection Act, when redactions made to documents to be disclosed following a request under the Data Protection Act 1998 are made whether a record is kept of  (a) who made each redaction and  (b) why it was made in the case of (i) HM Treasury and (ii) HM Revenue and Customs.

Dawn Primarolo: The information is as follows:
	 (a) Records are not routinely kept of the name of the officer who made each redaction.
	 (b) Redactions are most commonly made to protect personal data belonging to another individual; because the data does not constitute the data subject's personal data; to safeguard the accurate assessment and collection of taxes.

Data Protection

James Gray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 5 June 2006,  Official Report, column 177W, on the Data Protection Act, what the minimum font size is in which documents held in electronic form are made available by (i) HM Treasury and (ii) HM Revenue and Customs for disclosure under the Data Protection Act 1998 are printed in relation to HM Treasury's policy to provide enlarged print size for the partially sighted.

Dawn Primarolo: Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs has a policy to provide enlarged print size on request to assist those with visual impairment. HM Revenue and Customs standard is font size 11 although slight variance may occur from system to system. In addition, the font size of documents which have been electronically scanned reflects the font size of the original(s).

Doha Development Round

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the concordat of the G8 meeting in St. Petersburg on the Doha Development Round, what discussions he plans to have with  (a) Commissioner Mandleson,  (b) the director general of the World Trade Organisation and  (c) Ambassador Susan Schwab on (i) agricultural subsidies, (ii) non-market access and (iii) designation of import/export sensitive commodities.

Edward Balls: As the Chancellor set out in his statement to the International Monetary and Financial Committee on 22 April 2006, the international community must grasp the opportunity presented by the Doha Development Agenda of world trade talks to achieve an ambitious outcome, by the end of 2006, that will make a real contribution to poverty reduction.
	The need for a fairer trading global trading system was a key message of the UK presidency reflected in the communiqués of the G8 Finance Ministers in June 2005, the G8 Heads of State at Gleneagles in July 2005 and G7 Finance Ministers in December 2005. G8 Finance Ministers reiterated this message in their June 2006 communiqué, where they agreed:
	"on the importance for global growth of an ambitious outcome from the Doha Development Round and recognise that urgent progress is needed for its achievement. Many developing countries also need substantial aid for trade to help them take advantage of general trade liberalisation".
	As set out in the 2006 Budget, the UK Government continue to work with fellow EU and WTO member states towards an ambitious and pro-development conclusion to the Doha Round that would: substantially increase market access for developing countries; substantially reduce all trade-distorting domestic support; and provide effective special and differential treatment to enable developing countries to capture the gains from trade. All WTO members need to maintain commitment to the Round so that we can deliver on the promises of Doha without lowering the level of ambition.
	To this end Treasury Ministers and officials have conversations and discussions with a wide range of organisations and individuals as part of the process of policy development, analysis and delivery.

Tax Credits

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  which of the recommendations made by the Parliamentary Ombudsman in her report on Tax Credits: Putting Things Right had been  (a) implemented,  (b) accepted but not implemented,  (c) rejected and  (d) considered for implementation by 31 May 2006; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  if he will make a statement on plans to implement the recommendations in paragraph 5.17 of the Parliamentary Ombudsman's June 2005 report on tax credits.

Dawn Primarolo: HMRC have responded positively to the Ombudsman's report. For example:
	HMRC have improved guidance to staff on the availability of interim payments.
	Suspension of recovery on disputes was introduced in November 2005.
	A revised award notice including a single page check sheet to help claimants with their award notice were introduced from April 2006. The check sheet includes a section on overpayments and highlights the availability of additional tax credits payments.
	The Code of Practice on overpayments (COP26) was revised earlier this year and now provides a clearer statement of what is meant by the reasonableness test in official error cases.
	From November 2006 the tax credits computer system will limit any in year adjustment to the cross year recovery limits as detailed in COP26?the Tax Credit Office have a manual process to effect requests in the interim.
	In respect of recommendation 10, current policy is for overpayments to be written off where there was a mistake by HMRC and it was not reasonable for the claimant to have spotted the error. The Government believe this strikes the right balance between being fair to those claimants who have been paid the incorrect amount and being fair to the taxpayer in general.

Tax Credits

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff were employed by  (a) the tax credits office and  (b) the tax credits hotline in each month from September 2005 to March 2006; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: For the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) staff employed in Tax Credit Office (TCO) at the end of September 2005, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 7 December 2005,  Official Report, column 1326W.
	 (a) The number of FTE staff in post in the TCO at the end of October 2005 to the end of February 2006 inclusive was around:
	
		
			  Staff number (FTEs) 
			  Month  Number 
			  2005  
			 October 2,800 
			 November 2,800 
			 December 2,800 
			   
			  2006  
			 January 2,800 
			 February 3,000 
			 March 3,100 
		
	
	 (b) HMRC estimates of the number of full-time equivalent staff employed on tax credit helplines, in each month from September 2005 to March 2006 are detailed in the following table. In addition HMRC can use up to another 1,350 staff (FTE's) to answer tax credit calls at peak times.
	
		
			  Staff number (FTEs) 
			  Month  Number 
			  2005  
			 September 3,400 
			 October 3,400 
			 November 3,400 
			 December 3,400 
			 January 3,200 
			   
			  2006  
			 February 3,300 
			 March 3,350

Tax Investigations

Peter Robinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much tax was recovered in Northern Ireland by HM Revenue and Customs as a result of tax investigations in each year since 1998.

Dawn Primarolo: The amounts brought to charge in relation to income tax and corporation tax as a result of tax investigations carried out in Northern Ireland each year is respectively:
	
		
			   £ million 
			 2000-01 22.09 
			 2001-02 24.71 
			 2002-03 29.76 
			 2003-04 39.04 
			 2004-05 43.40 
			 2005-06 49.43 
		
	
	Data in respect of earlier years is not available.

Tax Revenue

Anne Milton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the tax revenue from  (a) England,  (b) Wales,  (c) Scotland and  (d) Northern Ireland in each of the last three years.

Stephen Timms: As taxes are often collected centrally and cannot usually be directly attributed to countries within the UK, only a limited amount of estimates are available.
	HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) publishes regional and country information for stamp duties and estimates for income tax, which are available on their websites:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/stamp_duty/table15_2_october04.pdf
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/income_distribution/menu-by-year.htm#311
	The Scottish Executive produce estimates of tax revenues attributable to Scotland in their publication 'Government Expenditure and Revenue in Scotland'. These are published at:
	http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/47121/0020630.pdf

Businesses

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he has taken to help businesses become more innovative since 31 May 2005; and how many businesses in Northern Ireland have been assisted in this way over the period.

Maria Eagle: The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment continues to work with all Departments and Invest NI to ensure the delivery of 'think/create/innovate—the Regional Innovation Strategy for Northern Ireland', which seeks to develop the region's innovation economy. A formal review of 'think/create/innovate' is currently underway, the outcomes of which will contribute to the identification of the key priorities for Northern Ireland's R&D and innovation system during the period 2006-10.
	In the period 1 June 2005 to 31May 2006, Invest NI supported 180 Research and Development projects which offered grant of £11.86 million against total project costs of £31.35 million. Invest NI also delivered £12.3 million assistance against total project costs of £60.8 million to support a further 308 projects across a range of process, strategy and innovation programmes. 131 businesses were also offered grant of £1.5 million to improve their use of Information Communication Technology and implement new e-business processes and 126 businesses received assistance to enter/develop new markets under the Explorers/Connections programmes.
	Recognising the importance of best practice, Invest NI also supported 71 Business Improvement Training agreements, visited 419 companies to provide tailored ICT advice, provided 104 companies with ICT demonstrations, responded to 480 requests for technical advice, conducted 430 intellectual property searches, and delivered 514 portions of HR advice and guidance.
	Invest NI also delivered £2.5 million to business in respect of 10 existing letters of offer under the 'Centres of Excellence Programme'.
	In March 2006, Invest Northern Ireland hosted its first ever Innovation Week with the theme of 'Think Different Grow Fast.' 16 events were delivered across Northern Ireland which attracted more than 1,000 business representatives.

Businesses

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many meetings Ministers have attended with  (a) senior departmental officials and  (b) business leaders in Northern Ireland to discuss how best to help Northern Ireland businesses become more innovative since 31 May 2005.

Maria Eagle: In keeping with the ethos of the Economic Vision and the Regional Innovation Strategy for Northern Ireland, the importance of innovation as a driver to the Northern Ireland economy is a key component of the activities undertaken by the NI ministerial team and their respective Departments.
	For instance, during the period in question, ministers took part in 12 company visits at which they promoted the continued need for innovation as key to company competitiveness. Innovation has also been a key feature of a recent trade mission to India.
	Innovation has also been a topic for discussion raised by Ministers at various networking events hosted by Northern Ireland's business representative organisations, in addition to being the subject of a number of key note addresses, including the recent International Creative Clusters Conference which took place in Belfast in October 2005.
	At a strategic level, Ministers and senior departmental officials for the Departments of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, Employment and Learning and, Regional Development regularly participate in Economic Development Forum (EDF) meetings at Northern Ireland Office which they discuss many of the issues of importance to Northern Ireland's social and economic development, including a quarterly report by the EDF Innovation Sub-Group.
	More generally, Ministers meet on a regular (usually weekly) basis with senior officials from their departments to discuss key policy and operational issues. The Regional Innovation Strategy for Northern Ireland has the ownership of all Departments and is a key influence underpinning departmental activities.

Consultants

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what criteria and procedures he uses when electing consultants for publicly-funded work.

David Hanson: The procedure for the appointment of consultants for work within Northern Ireland Departments is based on a competitive process and is governed by the rules set out in the Government Accounting Northern Ireland Manual (GANI) and the Public Contracts Regulations 2006.
	Where expected spend is not above European Union procurement thresholds, Departments will comply with the principles set out in GANI.
	Where spend is expected to be above European Union procurement thresholds in addition to complying with GANI, Departments will comply with the procedures set out in the Public Contracts Regulations 2006.
	The criteria used for awarding a public contract will be based on the offer which:
	is the most economically advantageous from the point of view of the contracting authority; or
	offers the lowest price.

Cross-border Action

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what action each relevant department of the Northern Ireland Administration has taken since his announcement with the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs in December 2005 of cross-border action for the north west region.

David Hanson: Following our statement in December 2005, the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs and I announced the establishment of a North West Gateway Initiative on 2 May. This comprises a framework of elements aimed at addressing various problems and offering solutions on a co-ordinated basis across the region. Work at departmental level, North and South, includes the commencement of a non-statutory development framework for the North West on which consultation with key stakeholders is planned at an early stage; and a seminar involving further and higher education and business interests is being held later this month to consider how best to utilise education and training resources to enhance the skills profile of the region.
	The National Roads Authority in the South and Roads Service in Northern Ireland are in discussion aimed at identifying potential improvements to the roads' network for the North West and both Finance Departments have invited the Special EU Programmes Body to assist in the development of strategic proposals which could be considered under the new round of EU Structural Funds.
	On economic development, skills and employment, the respective agencies are working together on action plans in their respective areas, e.g. trade and investment promotion (IDA/EI/INI/ITI), tourism (Tourism Ireland/NITB/Failte Ireland), skills/training (FAS/DEL), education, innovation and business development. This work will draw on the joint economic study exploring further opportunities for North South economic co-operation. It will also build on a range of existing initiatives such as Innovation North West Ireland, Destination North West, the North West Business and Technology zone, North West Region Data Capture Project and others. On telecommunications, the issue of open access is being further investigated in the context of the wider needs of the region and, in particular, the completion of telecoms requirements for the cross-border technology park.
	A round of consultations between the joint group of officials established earlier this year to assist in maximising the potential of the North West region and key stakeholders took place on 12 June. It is envisaged that the group will hold further consultations as work progresses.

Departmental Expenditure

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the 10 non-public sector entities that have received the largest total sum of payments from his Department in each of the last five years.

Peter Hain: The following information represents the 10 non-public sector entities that have received the largest total sum of payments from the Northern Ireland Office in each of the last five years.
	Fujitsu Services (Technical support for Causeway Programme)
	McCombe Bros Ltd (Security work/maintenance on property as part of Key Persons Protection Scheme)
	British Telecom
	Knock Travel Agents (Travel agents used by NIO for booking flights)
	Victim Support Northern Ireland (Voluntary Body part funded by NIO)
	Deloitte MCS Ltd (IT Consultancy for Hamill, Nelson and Wright Inquiries)
	J H Turkington and Sons Contractors Ltd (Building contractors for Public Prosecution Service new regional accommodation)
	Jameson Building Services Ltd (Security work/maintenance on property as part of Key Persons Protection Scheme)
	Madden and Finucane Solicitors (Legal fees relating to Bloody Sunday Inquiry)
	Heron Bros Ltd (Contractors for Phase 1 of Juvenile Justice Centre (Rathgael))

Departmental Pensions

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many staff in each Department in Northern Ireland, including the Northern Ireland Office, have  (a) applied to buy added years and  (b) are currently paying for added years to be added to their pension arrangements.

David Hanson: The table details the number of staff in each Department in Northern Ireland, including the Northern Ireland Office who has applied to buy added years and those who are currently paying for added years to be added to their pension arrangements.
	Information on Agencies sponsored by Departments is included with their Department unless separately identified.
	Figures relating to the Northern Ireland Office include both members of the Northern Ireland Civil Service and the Home Civil Service working in that Department.
	
		
			  Employing department  Applications to buy added years  Staff currently paying for added years 
			 Department of Education 0 7 
			 Department of Finance and Personnel 0 60 
			 Department of the Environment 0 44 
			 Department of Agriculture and Rural Development 1 80 
			 Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety 0 20 
			 Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure 0 5 
			 Department of Regional Development 0 55 
			 Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister 0 17 
			 Department of Social Development 1 8 
			 Child Support Agency 0 4 
			 Social Security Agency 0 10 
			 Department of Enterprise, Trade and Industry 0 11 
			 Department of Employment and Learning 0 11 
			 Northern Ireland Office 6 15 
			 Northern Ireland Prison Service 0 5 
			 Total 8 352

Departmental Travel

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much each Department under his authority spent on travel expenses in each of the last five years.

David Hanson: The following table provides a breakdown of the costs for each financial year from 2001-02 to 2005-06 for the 11 core NICS Departments and the Northern Ireland Office.
	Costs include all travel by standard mileage rate, public transport rate, air, rail, sea, bus and cycle travel. Figures also include car parking, passenger and equipment allowances.
	
		
			  Travel costs by financial year 
			  £ 
			   2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			 DARD(1) 3,144,327.44 2,631,764.34 3,183,046.83 3,220,450.96 3,080,000.00 
			 DCAL 138,737.00 125,820.00 94,912.00 85,006.00 95,121.81 
			 DE 410,744.58 389,922.89 420,634.88 404,826.70 385,227.44 
			 DEL 675,859.00 730,847.00 730,951.00 792,316.00 589,426.00 
			 DFP 850,128.00 871,469.00 769,208.00 838,055.00 914,079.00 
			 DHSSPS 444,509.00 438,984.00 521,337.00 467,161.00 436,569.00 
			 DSD 193,239.81 184,327.26 237,876.01 271,347.87 184,186.59 
			 OFMDFM 514,099.53 591,976.99 385,243.49 364,494.23 280,614.09 
			 DETI 1,099,968.99 394,951.54 386,164.43 389,030.27 342,701.77 
			 NIO 1,299,549.00 1,474,632.00 1,463,167.00 1,359,458.00 1,627,323.00 
			 DRD 185,461.00 188,145.00 156,195.00 153,596.00 144,172.00 
			 DOE 139,706.00 171,344.00 198,612.00 191,316.00 232,902.00 
			 (1) The 2005-06 figures are the latest draft costs. It is not anticipated however that any significant changes will occur. Approximately 85 per cent. of DARD's travel expenditure is in relation to mileage. DARD employs a large number of professional staff (e.g. veterinary surgeons, agricultural inspectors) whose duties require them to travel within rural communities.

Deprivation

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what percentage of the population in each Northern Ireland  (a) constituency and  (b) council area has been assessed as living in the most deprived areas of Northern Ireland in each of the last five years.

David Hanson: The Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure 2005 reports detailed levels of deprivation in small areas throughout Northern Ireland. The following tables give the percentage of the population in each  (a) parliamentary constituency and each  (b) local government district who live in the most deprived small areas in Northern Ireland.
	As these figures are derived from a specific research project, figures for previous years are not available
	
		
			  Table 1: Percentage of population in each parliamentary constituency living in the most deprived areas in Northern Ireland 
			  Parliamentary constituency  Percentage 
			 Belfast, West 79 
			 Belfast, North 60 
			 Foyle 46 
			 West Tyrone 31 
			 Belfast, East 23 
			 Newry and Armagh 23 
			 Belfast, South 19 
			 Upper Bann 18 
			 East Londonderry 13 
			 East Antrim 8 
			 Fermanagh and South Tyrone 8 
			 North Antrim 8 
			 Mid-Ulster 7 
			 South Down 6 
			 South Antrim 4 
			 Lagan Valley 4 
			 Strangford 4 
			 North Down 2 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Percentage of population in each local government district living in the most deprived areas in Northern Ireland 
			  Local government district  Percentage 
			 Strabane 54 
			 Belfast 48 
			 Derry 46 
			 Newry and Mourne 25 
			 Craigavon 23 
			 Limavady 17 
			 Lisburn 16 
			 Newtownabbey 13 
			 Omagh 13 
			 Moyle 13 
			 Cookstown 11 
			 Coleraine 10 
			 Ballymena 10 
			 Dungannon 9 
			 Fermanagh 9 
			 Larne 8 
			 Carrickfergus 8 
			 Armagh 7 
			 Antrim 6 
			 Down 6 
			 Castlereagh 5 
			 Ards 3 
			 North Down 3 
			 Magherafelt 1 
			 Ballymoney 1 
			 Banbridge 0

Farming

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many farmers in Northern Ireland are registered as  (a) dairy farmers,  (b) beef farmers and  (c) mixed farmers; and how many were registered in (i) 2003-04 and (ii) 2004-05.

David Cairns: Farmers are not registered in Northern Ireland by the type of farming they practice. Rather, farms are classified for statistical purposes as belonging to one of several standard types. Information on the number of farms in relevant categories, and for the most recent three-year period available, is presented in the following table:
	
		
			  Farm type  2003  2004  2005 
			 Dairy 4,425 4,201 4,058 
			 LFA Cattle and Sheep 15,700 15,464 15,430 
			 Lowland Cattle and Sheep 4,589 4,565 4,619 
			 Mixed 1,058 1,034 944

Freedom of Information

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will estimate how many  (a) health department and  (b) NHS personnel in the Province are employed on processing requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Paul Goggins: Four staff in the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety and 30 staff in Health and Personal Social Services bodies are involved in processing requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. In addition, in order to respond to particular requests for information, these staff are assisted, as appropriate, by staff from across the Department or the Health and Personal Social Services body. Information is not available on the amount of time spent on processing freedom of information requests but it represents only a small proportion of the total working time of the staff involved.

ICT Sector

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much the Department for Employment and Learning has spent on training in information and communication technology (ICT) skills in each of the last five years; what measures the Government are taking to encourage graduates to work in the ICT sector; and if he will establish a dedicated fund to encourage growth in the ICT sector.

Maria Eagle: The Department for Employment Learning spent the following on training on information and communication technology skills in the last five years:
	
		
			  Total ICT funding 
			   Amount (£) 
			 2004-05 17,122,478 
			 2003-04 21,154,350 
			 2002-03 19,613,027 
			 2001-02 9,509,116 
			 2000-01 9,881,950 
			 Total 77,280,921 
		
	
	The vast majority of the funds spent (£70,337,817 from the academic year 2000/01 to 2004/05) is in respect of further education. The remainder comprises Management Development (£6,669,954) and Sectoral Development (£273,150). These figures exclude funding to universities for ICT courses. The Department provides a recurrent grant but it is the institutions themselves which allocate funding to subject areas.
	The Department funds foundation degrees and other higher education courses delivered in the further education sector in order to encourage students to enter the ICT sector at intermediate level.
	In implementing its Skills Strategy for Northern Ireland, the Department places importance on determining the skills needs of each sector. E-Skills, the Sector Skills Council for the IT industry, has carried out Research into Employer needs, supply and demand and emerging gaps and this analysis of skills gaps has been published. The Department has also commissioned E-Skills to carry out an additional specialist project which specifically focuses on the demand for graduates in the industry. Also Invest Northern Ireland has been jointly involved with the Department in providing projections of the number of graduates likely to be needed for forthcoming emerging employment opportunities.
	Alongside this research, the Department in co-operation with the Association of Northern Ireland Colleges and local employers, is developing a short-term course for graduates from a variety of disciplines to enable them to avail of increasing employment opportunities in the ICT sector. This will provide an immediate response to the ICT sector employers' concerns, while longer term need is determined.
	There are no plans to establish a dedicated fund to encourage growth in the ICT sector. Invest Northern Ireland already encourages the growth of the sector through a programme of support for indigenous companies and through foreign direct investment. In addition to this individual company support, Invest Northern Ireland also undertakes a number of sector specific initiatives to ensure the continued development of the ICT sector in Northern Ireland.

Local Government Finance

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much general grant was received by each local authority in Northern Ireland in  (a) 2005-06 and  (b) 2006-07.

David Cairns: The information requested is set out in the following table.
	
		
			  General grant payments: 2005-06 
			  £ 
			  District Council  Derating  Resources  Total 
			 Antrim 932,068 0 932,068 
			 Ards 793,767 1,255,948 2,049,715 
			 Armagh 661,165 1,783,504 2,444,669 
			 Ballymena 1,127,190 0 1,127,190 
			 Ballymoney 336,514 1,052,084 1,388,598 
			 Banbridge 473,803 953,758 1,427,561 
			 Belfast 6,409,131 0 6,409,131 
			 Carrickfergus 563,951 264,650 828,601 
			 Castlereagh 700,433 0 700,433 
			 Coleraine 518,886 0 518,886 
			 Cookstown 688,837 972,907 1,661,744 
			 Craigavon 2,337,536 0 2,337,536 
			 Derry 1,315,836 1,276,683 2,592,519 
			 Down 457,780 1,683,189 2,140,969 
			 Dungannon 1,379,379 930,916 2,310,295 
			 Fermanagh 776,276 1,437,935 2,214,211 
			 Larne 481,641 24,202 505,843 
			 Limavady 206,182 1,308,476 1,514,658 
			 Lisburn 1,742,336 0 1,742,336 
			 Magherafelt 611,462 1,466,528 2,077,990 
			 Moyle 158,900 585,645 744,545 
			 Newry and Mourne 1,094,799 2,043,239 3,138,038 
			 Newtownabbey 1,534,687 0 1,534,687 
			 North Down 476,077 0 476,077 
			 Omagh 528,960 1,407,084 1,936,044 
			 Strabane 344,959 2,050,252 2,395,211 
			 Total(1) 26,652,555 20,497,000 47,149,555 
			 (1) In addition to the above figure shown for Newtownabbey borough council, an amount of "29,108 was paid by way of a finalisation payment for the 1999-2000 financial year.

Long-Term Care

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the number of people in Northern Ireland who have had to sell their family homes in order to provide funds for long-term care in each year since proceedings in the case of Pamela Coughlan  v. the NHS were completed.

Paul Goggins: The Department does not collect information on the numbers of people who sell their homes to realise the funds required to pay for long-term care and has not made an estimate of such house sales for each year since the judgement in the case of R.  v. North and East Devon health authority ex parte Pamela Coughlan was handed down by the Court of Appeal in July 1999.

Long-Term Care

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will bring forward amending legislation to end the requirement on those who enter long-term care to sell their family home in order to fund such care.

Paul Goggins: There is no legal requirement for those entering long-term care to sell a family home to fund their care. Following an individual financial assessment to calculate how much each individual can afford to pay towards the cost of their care, it is entirely a matter for each individual and their advisors to decide how best to meet any charges. Current Northern Ireland legislation provides a 12-week disregard of the value of a residents home following permanent admission to a care home. I am not, however, proposing to promote amending legislation to totally exclude the value of a resident's family home from the assessment of each individual's resources.

Long-term Unemployed

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people in Northern Ireland are defined as long-term unemployed, broken down by  (a) parliamentary constituency and  (b) district council area; and what measures the Department for Employment and Learning has in place to encourage long-term unemployed people to return to education.

Maria Eagle: The number and percentage of long-term unemployed from the claimant count in April 2006, broken down by  (a) parliamentary constituency and  (b) district council area, are shown in the following tables.
	
		
			  (a) Parliamentary constituencies 
			   Number of long-term unemployed claimants  Long-term unemployed claimants as a percentage of total claimants 
			 Belfast East 175 16.0 
			 Belfast North 520 23.4 
			 Belfast South 260 18.8 
			 Belfast West 820 26.6 
			 East Antrim 250 18.2 
			 East Londonderry 330 20.0 
			 Fermanagh and South Tyrone 345 27.5 
			 Foyle 690 20.1 
			 Lagan Valley 160 17.3 
			 Mid Ulster 165 19.2 
			 Newry and Armagh 340 24.4 
			 North Antrim 250 16.7 
			 North Down 175 17.1 
			 South Antrim 215 18.6 
			 South Down 290 22.4 
			 Strangford 285 24.9 
			 Upper Bann 185 14.7 
			 West Tyrone 470 25.1 
			 Northern Ireland 5,925 21.2 
		
	
	
		
			  (b) District councils 
			   Number of long-term unemployed claimants  Long-term unemployed claimants as a percentage of total claimants 
			 Antrim 100 17.1 
			 Ards 240 24.6 
			 Armagh 115 20.7 
			 Ballymena 140 18.3 
			 Ballymoney 50 12.2 
			 Banbridge 55 16.0 
			 Belfast 1,565 22.9 
			 Carrickfergus 75 14.5 
			 Castlereagh 90 16.1 
			 Coleraine 210 20.1 
			 Cookstown 70 18.0 
			 Craigavon 150 14.3 
			 Derry 690 20.1 
			 Down 205 22.1 
			 Dungannon 90 19.5 
			 Fermanagh 275 30.5 
			 Larne 70 17.9 
			 Limavady 125 19.7 
			 Lisburn 305 21.5 
			 Magherafelt 75 20.5 
			 Moyle 60 18.7 
			 Newry and Mourne 325 25.9 
			 Newtownabbey 220 21.2 
			 North Down 155 17.6 
			 Omagh 185 25.6 
			 Strabane 285 24.7 
			 Northern Ireland 5,925 21.2 
		
	
	The Department for Employment and Learning has introduced a number of policies and initiatives in the Further and Higher Education sectors, to widen access and increase adult participation in vocational education and training; the target group includes the long term unemployed.
	These measures include an expansion of courses for those returning to learning; the allocation of additional funding to support provision from non statutory providers and support measures to provide help to students who are deterred from enrolling in further education because of financial hardship or other difficulties. In 2005-06 this support to students totalled over £2.5 million. There is also an entitlement to free professional and technical courses, for all full-time students, aged 19 and over.
	Within Higher Education, the Department has set a target of progressing year on year towards fair access to HE by 2008. The Widening Participation Strategy has included the setting of an annual target to increase representation of people from lower socio-economic classifications.
	The Department also provides a number of targeted programmes to assist those who are out of work move towards, and return to, the labour market. This includes a suite of new deal programmes where eligible participants may access short accredited training courses or three units of a National Vocational Qualification (NVQ). The purpose of this provision is designed to assist people find jobs and help them stay and progress in employment through training and work experience.

Noise Nuisance

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many complaints were made about noise levels to each district and borough council in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years; and on how many occasions each council took steps to reduce the noise level.

David Cairns: District council noise complaint statistics have been collected by the Department of the Environment since 2004, therefore only two years of data is currently available.
	In 2003-04, district councils received a total of 8,397 complaints about noise. During the same period a total of 307 noise abatement notices were issued and seven prosecutions were taken by council officers.
	In 2004-05 the number of noise complaints received by councils totalled 10,047. During the same period a total of 340 noise abatement notices and 17 prosecutions were taken by council officers.
	A breakdown of the statistics by district council is contained in an annual report published by the Department. The reports for 2003-04 and 2004-05 can be accessed on the Environment and Heritage's website at http://www.ehsni.gov.uk/environment/noise/noisestats.shtml The report for 2005-06 is presently being compiled and will be published by 31 August 2006. Copies of this report will be placed in the Library.

PSNI

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many Police Service of Northern Ireland officers have been injured as a result of gunshot wounds while policing parades in Northern Ireland in each of the last 10 years.

Paul Goggins: The PSNI advises that while figures can be provided on the number of police officers injured in shooting incidents, it is not possible to specify if the injury was sustained as a result of policing a parade. The overall figures for the number of officers receiving gunshot wounds are as follows:
	
		
			   Number 
			 1996 4 
			 1997 7 
			 1998 1 
			 1999 0 
			 2000 0 
			 2001 2 
			 2002 1 
			 2003 2 
			 2004 0 
			 2005 0 
			  Note:2005 statistics are provisional and may be subject to minor amendment.

Renewable Energy

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much of the energy consumed by each Northern Ireland Department came from renewable sources in the last 12 months.

David Hanson: In the year ending 31 March 2005 (the last complete year for which data is available) the amount of electricity coming from renewable sources consumed by Northern Ireland Departments was as follows:
	
		
			  Department  Percentage 
			 Agriculture and Rural Development 2.79 
			 Culture, Arts and Leisure 0 
			 Education 8.41 
			 Enterprise, Trade and Investment 6.94 
			 Environment 12.73 
			 Finance and Personnel 15.87 
			 Health, Social Services and Public Safety 13.83 
			 Regional Development 12.55 
			 Social Development 14.61 
		
	
	The table does not include the Office of First Minister and Deputy First Minister or the Department for Employment and Learning as these Departments are accommodated in buildings shared with other Departments.

Road Safety

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he  (a) is taking and  (b) plans to take to increase the seatbelt-wearing rate in Northern Ireland over the next five years.

David Cairns: The Department of the Environment already develops seatbelt campaigns, supported by the Police Service of Northern Ireland, to ensure that all vehicle occupants are aware of the need to wear seat belts. The Department's Road Safety Education Officers provide teaching resources, training and support and liaise with teachers in all schools in Northern Ireland to ensure that children are encouraged to wear seat belts.
	Measures planned to increase the seat belt wearing rate in Northern Ireland are:
	New primary road traffic legislation on which the Department has consulted will be introduced in due course. This includes making the failure to wear seatbelts an endorsable offence.
	Consultations have taken place on Directive 2003/20/EC, including proposals to require seat belt wearing on buses and coaches where they are fitted and the use of child restraints in cars and goods vehicles. The Department plans to make an announcement on the way forward over the next few weeks.
	A new publicity campaign highlighting the dangers of not wearing seat belts is planned for September.

Stormont

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the  (a) safety and  (b) quality of the storage of the historic artefacts associated with the Stormont Estate; and what assessment he has made of the need for specialist conservation of such material.

David Hanson: The majority of artefacts belonging to the Assembly are safely stored in the Artefact's store in Parliament Buildings. The remaining artefacts are safely stored in DFP stores in Belfast. Specialist conservation is not required for any of these artefacts.

Stormont

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans there are to return the historic artefacts associated with the Stormont Estate to the Parliament Buildings.

David Hanson: The majority of the historic artefacts are already stored in Parliament Buildings. There are currently no plans to return remaining artefacts to Parliament Buildings.

Stormont

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland where the historic artefacts associated with the Stormont Estate are stored; and whether they can be loaned to museums.

David Hanson: The majority of items are kept in the Artefact's store, Parliament Buildings and the remaining items are stored at DFP stores in Belfast. Any request from a museum to borrow an artefact would be given due consideration.

Theft

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many convictions there were in Northern Ireland in connection with theft from retail outlets in  (a) 1995 and  (b) 2005.

David Hanson: The number of convictions for shoplifting is included in the table. Data for 2003 is the most up-to-date available at present. It should be noted that data are collated on the principal offence rule, thus only the most serious offence with which an offender is charged is included.
	
		
			  Convictions for shoplifting offences 
			   Number 
			 1995 950 
			 2003 600

Departmental Annual Report

David Amess: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what research her Department  (a) has undertaken and  (b) plans to undertake into the reasons for the slippage against Target 5, Measure 1 set out on page 134 of the departmental annual report (Cm 6820); and if she will make a statement.

Bridget Prentice: This particular component of the shared target with the Home Office measures the time taken to remove detained, non-suspensive claimants whose applications have been certified as clearly unfounded and whose appeal rights against the refusal to grant asylum can only be brought from outside the United Kingdom once removal has taken place.
	The Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) of the Home Office have confirmed that a dedicated resource is in place to analyse the quality and timeliness of the non-suspensive appeal (NSA) process and to address issues and difficulties that arise within the process.

Electoral Registration

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many electors were registered in each constituency in the year  (a) before and  (b) after single signatures for registration were introduced.

David Hanson: I have been asked to reply.
	The table shows the number of people registered to vote each Westminster constituency in Northern Ireland in the years 2001 and 2002, either side of the introduction of individual registration in 2002.
	The significant drop in the numbers registering was largely due to the fact that pre-2002 voters were given a year's grace before their names were removed if they did not re-register. The Electoral Fraud Act 2002, that introduced individual registration, was also successful in eradicating duplicate entries and phantom names on previous registers. The Register used for the May 2005 General Election showed a total number of 1,148,486 people registered.
	
		
			  Electorate figures in 2001 and 2002 
			  Constituency  30 November 2001  1 December 2002 
			 Belfast East 58,049 50,929 
			 Belfast North 59,653 49,937 
			 Belfast South 59,036 49,349 
			 Belfast West 58,901 48,153 
			 East Antrim 61,092 54,569 
			 East Londonderry 60,921 55,466 
			 Fermanagh and South Tyrone 67,846 63,010 
			 Foyle 71,252 62,801 
			 Lagan Valley 73,027 65,939 
			 Mid Ulster 62,490 58,810 
			 Newry and Armagh 73,600 66,802 
			 North Antrim 75,635 69,728 
			 North Down 63,649 56,606 
			 South Antrim 70,926 62,349 
			 South Down 74,935 68,317 
			 Strangford 72,751 65,558 
			 Upper Bann 73,594 67,595 
			 West Tyrone 61,147 56,507 
			 Total 1,198,504 1,072,425

Homes (Repossession)

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many court orders have been issued for the repossession of homes in each London borough in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Harriet Harman: The following table shows the number of mortgage possession orders made in all London county courts in the last five years.
	These figures do not indicate how many houses have been repossessed through the courts, since not all the orders will have resulted in the issue and execution of warrants of possession.
	The civil procedure rules state that all claims for the repossession of land must be commenced in the district in which the land is situated. However, county courts' jurisdictions are not coterminous with London borough boundaries, and therefore any single court's repossession actions are likely to relate to homes in a number of different boroughs.
	
		
			  Number of mortgage( 1)  possession orders made in county courts( 2)  in London, 2001-05 
			  Possession orders made( 3) 
			   2001  2002  2003  2004  2005 
			 Barnet 66 100 97 143 302 
			 Bow 176 248 295 456 817 
			 Brentford 110 113 124 189 290 
			 Bromley 103 161 235 271 486 
			 Central London 43 88 101 162 281 
			 Clerkenwell 31 35 59 78 132 
			 Croydon 257 254 338 394 644 
			 Edmonton 176 206 228 285 553 
			 Ilford 105 115 93 219 309 
			 Kingston-upon-Thames 58 58 91 94 165 
			 Lambeth 117 160 195 311 533 
			 Mayors and City 1 1 0 2 0 
			 Romford 111 118 179 211 445 
			 Shoreditch 48 80 113 155 225 
			 Uxbridge 108 100 98 149 227 
			 Wandsworth 96 100 135 187 295 
			 West London 40 40 64 79 150 
			 Willesden 155 147 236 255 459 
			 Woolwich 53 96 96 181 348 
			 Greater London total 1,854 2,220 2,777 3,821 6,661 
			 (1) Local authority and private  (2) Does not include the small number of possession actions entered in the High Court.  (3) The court, following a judicial hearing, may grant an order for possession immediately. This entitles the claimant to apply for a warrant to have the defendant evicted. However, even where a warrant for possession is issued, the parties can still negotiate a compromise to prevent eviction.

John Muhia

Clare Short: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs whether the case of John Muhia (Home Office ref. M746233) is subject to reconsideration; and if she will make a statement.

Bridget Prentice: The asylum appeal of a Mr. John Muhia is listed for reconsideration by the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT) on 3 July 2006.

Looked-after Children

David Kidney: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what steps she plans to take to ensure  (a) the implementation of the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry Report on Care of Young People and  (b) regular inspections of services for looked after children in the Isle of Man.

Harriet Harman: The Inquiry Report on Care of Young People on the Isle of Man and the regular inspections of service there, are for the authorities in the Isle of Man.

Staff Absenteeism

Danny Alexander: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many working days were lost to her Department and its executive agencies in each year since 1997 due to staff absenteeism, expressed as the average annual number of absent days per employee; and what the estimated total cost to her Department and its agencies of absenteeism was in each year.

Vera Baird: The Department records the average number of sickness absence days per employee each year, and these are published annually by the Cabinet Office in the annual "Analysis of Sickness Absence in the Civil Service" report. The figures that follow are extracted from data held by the DCA for 1997 and 1998, and from the Cabinet Office annual reports, which can be found for the years 1999 to 2004 on the Civil Service website at:
	http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/management/occupationalhealth/publications/index.asp
	
		
			   Days per employee  Cost (£ million) 
			 1997 10.7 8.2 
			 1998 10.1 7.9 
			 1999 10.0 7.9 
			 2000 10.0 8.1 
			 2001 8.9 7.8 
			 2002 8.4 8.0 
			 2003 9.1 9.7 
			 2004 8.7 10.6

Mini-motorbikes

Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to tackle antisocial behaviour involving motor vehicles, with particular reference to mini-motorbikes.

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to tackle illegal and antisocial behaviour involving unlicensed mini-motorbikes and motorbikes.

Tony McNulty: The Government are aware of the problems associated with motorbike misuse, in particular miniature motorbikes. There are now a range of tools and powers in place to effectively deal with this problem and we are actively encouraging their use.
	These specific powers enable immediate action to be taken against antisocial riders, ensuring that communities do not have to suffer prolonged misery caused by the antisocial use of mini-motorbikes.
	The Home Office is producing a guidance document to help practitioners.

Occasional Sales

John Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the Kent and Medway Acts on occasional sales.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Report on the Kent Acts concluded that advance notice of occasional sales was helpful in planning operational activity. We will be seeking further evidence from police forces, local authorities and others when we consult on whether the regulatory aspects of the Kent Acts have wider application.

Police

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many arrests were made by police officers in each year since 1997; and what the average number of arrests per police officer was in each year.

Tony McNulty: Information on persons arrested for recorded crime (notifiable offences) can be found in Table AA of the Home Office Statistical Bulletin "Arrests for Recorded Crime (Notifiable Offences) and the Operation of Certain Police Powers under PACE, England and Wales" which is available on the Research and Development Statistics website www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pubsstastistical. Copies are also available in the Library.

Police

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police recruits have been  (a) disciplined and  (b) dismissed during their period of training in each police force in each of the last five years; and what percentage this represents of the total number of recruits in each year.

Tony McNulty: The requested information is not collected centrally.

Foreign Criminals

Jeremy Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign criminals are detained in immigration detention centres; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: As of 10 June 2006 there were 450 detainees accommodated within Immigration Removal Centres who are recorded as having previously served a term of imprisonment.

Foreign Criminals

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign national prisoners originally released without consideration for deportation were subsequently deported in the last five years.

Liam Byrne: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary and his predecessor have provided regular statistical updates to the House on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. In particular I refer the hon. Gentleman to the most recent written ministerial statements of 15 and 23 May 2006. We will continue to update the House on the 1,019 cases as we work through theses and urgently recheck the information we hold to ensure that any further information we provide to the House is as accurate as possible. We aim to provide a further update by the end of June.

Neighbourhood Policing Schemes

Andrew Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of neighbourhood policing schemes.

Tony McNulty: Earlier this year we published research evidence that showed that neighbourhood policing can deliver significant improvements in crime reduction, perceptions of crime and antisocial behaviour, feelings of safety and public confidence in the police. (The National Reassurance Policing Programme—Home Office research findings number 272.)
	In the trial, the reduction in the number of victims of crime was twice as high, and public confidence in the police increased five times as much in the wards with neighbourhood policing activity compared to similar wards without.

Antisocial Behaviour

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what steps he plans to take to ensure that local authorities monitor and act on public concerns over antisocial behaviour;
	(2)  if he will take steps to make local authorities more accountable to communities when responding to persistent antisocial behaviour and community safety problems.

Tony McNulty: A key element of the Government's Respect programme is to ensure that all communities see and expect a robust response to antisocial behaviour. We have introduced the necessary tools and powers and expect local authorities to use them where appropriate. This Government have introduced a mandatory antisocial behaviour and respect outcome to all local area agreements (LAAs) to ensure that local authorities monitor and act on public concerns over antisocial behaviour. From April 2007 all areas will be covered by such an agreement. The Respect programme is also about empowering the public to hold their leaders to account and have their say about the issues that matter most to them. We will ensure that senior representatives of all crime and disorder reduction partnerships hold regular 'face the people' sessions to promote greater accountability and visibility in local services. And this Government are committed to introducing a 'community call for action', a power that will give local communities a formal way to request and ensure that action is taken by the police, local authorities and others in response to persistent antisocial behaviour or community safety problems, where action is not already being taken.

Antisocial Behaviour

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many antisocial behaviour orders were applied for by  (a) each local authority,  (b) the police,  (c) social landlords and  (d) housing action trusts in Dudley since 1st April 1999;
	(2)  how many  (a) criminal antisocial behaviour orders and  (b) antisocial behaviour orders have been secured by courts in (i) Dudley and (ii) the West Midlands since the introduction of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003.

Tony McNulty: From one April 1999 to 31 May 2000 antisocial behaviour order (ASBO) data were collected by aggregate numbers only by police force area. Since 1 June 2000, from copies of the orders received, we are able to determine the type of applicant for ASBOs issued on application. The number of ASBOs issued on application, as reported to the Home Office by the Court Service, from 1 June 2000 to 30 September 2005 (latest available), wherein restrictions are imposed in the local government authority area of Dudley metropolitan borough council (MBC) is 15. All were applied for by Dudley MBC.
	The Police Reform Act 2002 gave authority to the courts, from 1 December 2002, to issue ASBOs, in addition to the sentence, following conviction of a criminal offence. The available information is given in the table.
	
		
			  Antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) issued at all courts, as reported to the Home Office by the Court Service, by area and type, from 1 December 2002( 1)  to 30 September 2005 (latest available) 
			  Number 
			   On application  On conviction  Total 
			 West Midlands 113 340 453 
			  Of which:
			 Dudley MBC 11 15 26 
			 (1 )Prior to this date ASBOs could be issued at the magistrates court on application only. The Police Reform Act (2002) gave authority to the Crown court and the magistrates court to issue an ASBO following conviction for a criminal offence. For comparison purposes all data given in this table are for the period 1 December 2002 to 30 September 2005.

Antisocial Behaviour

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he plans to take to publicise action taken to tackle antisocial behaviour to members of the public in Dudley.

Tony McNulty: The Respect programme places the emphasis on local agencies to use the tools and powers they have been given to swiftly and effectively tackle antisocial behaviour and its causes. The Government are determined that people should be confident that their local agencies will respond appropriately to antisocial behaviour. The roll-out Neighbourhood Policing teams and the increase in the number of Police Community Support Officers means that there are more resources than ever before on the streets to make this happen. This is coupled with new and existing powers will mean that there is no excuse for inaction.
	Through the Respect Academy programme, we are also outlining clearly how important communications, accountability and visibility are for public services in tackling antisocial behaviour. Getting the public to make demands on local agencies for action on antisocial behaviour and disrespect is an important part of sustaining these changes. It is essential that the public feel empowered to play their part in tackling antisocial behaviour through greater awareness of the powers available to them and their local agencies. We want to encourage people to come forward, complain and take a stand. The Respect "Taking A Stand" awards and Action days held nationwide will continue to stimulate public debate about acceptable behaviour and inform antisocial behaviour practitioners about local activities. We will also ensure that public services can be held to account and deliver on local priorities by introducing regular and systematic "face the people" briefing sessions, involving senior representation from the police and local authorities. Dudley metropolitan borough council (MBC) has taken a number of steps to ensure that action to tackle antisocial behaviour is well publicised throughout the borough. Dudley Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) publish and distribute two quarterly newsletters, "Dudley Together" and "Home Affairs" to all households and tenants. The local press also publicise details of antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) and dispersal notices and most Dudley MBC Neighbourhood Managers hold local community safety forums, to inform the community about initiatives and ongoing action to reduce antisocial behaviour.

Asylum/Immigration

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) suicides and  (b) incidents of self-harm there have been in each immigration holding, reception and removal centre in each of the last five years.

Liam Byrne: I am advised that there have been two deaths in the immigration removal estate in the last five years where the Coroner has recorded a verdict of suicide, at Haslar on 31 January 2003 and at Dungavel on 23 July 2004. We await the Coroner's verdict in a further five cases of apparently self-inflicted death. Details of these are:19 July 2004 at Harmondsworth, 7 November 2004 at Colnbrook, 27 June 2005 at Campsfield House, 15 September 2005 at Yarl's Wood, 19 January 2006 at Harmondsworth. Figures for self-harm incidents for 2004-05, 2005-06 and for April 2006 are reproduced as follows. No figures for are available for periods before this.
	
		
			  Immigration Removal Centre  Number of individuals on formal self-harm at risk  Number of incidents of self-harm requiring medical treatment 
			  1 April 2004 to 31 March 2005   
			 Campsfield House 33 19 
			 Colnbrook (opened August 2004) 95 34 
			 Dover 72 28 
			 Dungavel 127 1 
			 Harmondsworth 192 39 
			 Haslar 44 8 
			 Lindholme 24 2 
			 Oakington 57 15 
			 Tinsley House 91 8 
			 Yarl's Wood 123 7 
			
			  1 April 2005 to 31 March 2006   
			 Campsfield House 40 19 
			 Colnbrook 718 91 
			 Dover 91 28 
			 Dungavel 110 0 
			 Harmondsworth 482 40 
			 Haslar 36 2 
			 Lindholme 11 4 
			 Oakington 75 17 
			 Tinsley House 47 3 
			 Yarl's Wood 196 27 
			
			  1 April 2006 to 30 April 2006   
			 Campsfield House 1 0 
			 Colnbrook 78 8 
			 Dover 5 4 
			 Dungavel 5 0 
			 Harmondsworth 48 0 
			 Haslar 2 0 
			 Lindholme 0 0 
			 Oakington 5 2 
			 Tinsley House 4 1 
			 Yarl's Wood 39 5

Asylum/Immigration

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers who have been detained and subsequently granted temporary release have absconded in each of the last five years.

Liam Byrne: This information could be published only at disproportionate cost.

Asylum/Immigration

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent estimate has been made of the number of asylum seekers who have been  (a) refused asylum and  (b) removed from the United Kingdom in each year since 1999; and if he will make a statement

Liam Byrne: Information on the refusal and removal of asylum seekers is published quarterly andannually. Copies are available from the Library ofthe House and on the Home Office researchdevelopment and statistics directorate website at http://homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.

Asylum/Immigration

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much compensation was paid out to asylum seekers by the Government in each of the last five years.

Liam Byrne: Compensation paid by the immigration and nationality directorate to asylum seekers is not separately identifiable from the total of compensation paid to all members of the public.

Automatic Number Plate Recognition

Colin Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what evaluation he has made of the effectiveness of Automatic Number Plate Recognition technology on the detection and prevention of crime.

Tony McNulty: The Home Office has made £32.5 million capital funding available to the Police Service over a two-year period (2005-07) for the development of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR). This investment addresses the fight against serious and organised crime, terrorism, volume crime and road traffic offending.
	The Home Office has commissioned an independent evaluation of the national roll out of ANPR that is due for publication shortly. The report covers a period when ANPR is being mainstreamed in all police forces within England and Wales. The evaluation is expected to show that benefits have accrued as forces gain experience of operating ANPR in conjunction with the National Intelligence Model to target the detection and prevention of crime. Evidence from the previous 'Project Laser' pilot evaluations concluded that officers involved in ANPR achieve more arrests and contribute more Offences Brought to Justice than those involved in general policing.
	The ANPR Evaluation Report is due for publication in July 2006 and will be circulated to ANPR stakeholders and a copy will be placed on the Home Office website. (http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk)

Biological Diversity

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which Minister in his Department is responsible for monitoring his Department's compliance with its duty under section 74 of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 to have regard to the purpose of conserving biological diversity in carrying out its functions; and if he will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: The Home Office has taken a number of steps to benefit biodiversity including: a national Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) has been introduced across the public sector operated Prisons Estate, primarily an overarching document covering its designated sites, which encompass seven SSSIs, 1NNR and RAMSAR site and a site within a National Park (HMP Dartmoor). There are now six individual designated sites which have their own BAPs, a further 11 locally biodiversity significant sites also have BAPs and a pilot scheme for eight inner-city/urban BAPs is being implemented. Further plans are now being incorporated that will see biodiversity management plans rolled out across the remaining public sector prison estate.
	As well as a BAP network the public sector Prison Service has in place a Statement of Commitment for biodiversity and a Statement of Action for biodiversity which were signed by the Director General Phil Weatley in March 2003. Also supporting this the Prison Service has set up a strategic biodiversity group which involves a "central partnership" incorporating representatives from English Nature, the Wildlife Trusts, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers.
	In support of this work the Prison Service has carried out biological surveys at 21 biodiversity significant sites to identify local flora and fauna for action. The service has now put in place over 43 habitat and species action plans involving over 20 separate lead partners.
	In recognition of the work that has been carried out on the prison estate operated by the public sector, in 2005 the Prison Service won the Liveable City award for biodiversity. The Sustainable Development Commission has commended these examples of biodiversity good practice.

Community Support Officers

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many community support officers have been recruited in  (a) Gloucestershire and  (b) Stroud in each year since the scheme was introduced.

Tony McNulty: The following table gives details of the number of Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) recruited by the Gloucestershire Constabulary in 2003-04 and 2004-05. Information for 2005-06 is currently being collected and validated. Recruitment information is available only at force level. The table also shows the number of PCSOs employed by the force and for the Cotswold and Stroud Division, of which Stroud is part.
	
		
			  Police community support officers in Gloucestershire and Cotswold and Stroud Division( 1) 
			Number of PCSOs 
			  As at 31 March  Number of PCSOs recruited  Gloucestershire  Cotswold and Stroud Division 
			 2002-03 nil nil (2)— 
			 2003-04 51 54 (2)— 
			 2004-05 21 72 (3)19 
			 2005-06 (4)— 62 (2)— 
			 (1) Police community support officers were introduced in 2002-03 by the Police Reform Act 2002.(2 )Not available.(3) Data on PCSOs in basic command units is collected annually and was collected for the first time in 2005 and is the position on 30 June.(4) Not currently available.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter to his predecessor dated 10 April from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, about Mr. Hamed Siddiqi.

Liam Byrne: The immigration and nationality directorate wrote to the hon. Member on 24 February 2006.

Departmental Cleaning

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which companies have contracts for cleaning his Department's premises, broken down by building.

Liam Byrne: This information is not held centrally. Cleaning most of the Department's premises is contracted out, the main exception being the Prison estate where cleaning is generally the responsibility of inmates. Central records of cleaning contracts are not held. The companies listed at annex A have significant contracts for cleaning Home Office premises, either direct with the Home Office or as subcontractors. This information is not available broken down by building and excludes some specialist and smaller contractors and subcontractors.
	 Annex A: Cleaning contractor (in alphabetical order)
	Cambridge Industrial and Commercial Cleaners Ltd.
	Carylse Cleaning and Support Services
	Ecovert FM Ltd.
	IES Environmental Solutions Ltd.
	ISS Facilities Services Ltd.
	Lancaster Office Cleaning
	Mitie Cleaning Services
	Monthind Ltd.
	Ideal Cleaning Services
	Office Cleaning Services
	PRP Decontamination Ltd.
	Rentokil Initial UK Cleaning
	Tech Clean Services Ltd.

Departmental Staff

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the  (a) sickness and  (b) staff turnover rates were in (i) the Immigration and Nationality Directorate and (ii) the National Asylum Seeker Support Service in each year since 2001.

Liam Byrne: The rates for sickness absence for both IND as a whole and the National Asylum Support Service (NASS), as recorded on the central computer database, are provided in Table 1. The staff turnover rate for IND is provided in Table 2.
	
		
			  Table 1: Sickness absence rates 
			   IND Sickness (percentage)  NASS Sickness (percentage) 
			 2005 4.51 5.16 
			 2004 4.66 5.69 
			 2003 4.50 5.41 
			 2002 4.41 4.64 
			 2001 4.15 4.93 
			  Notes:This percentage rate is calculated from the number of working days lost per person against possible working days in the year. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Turnover Rates for IND 
			   IND turnover (percentage) 
			 2005 5.98 
			 2004 5.28 
			 2003 5.04 
			 2002 6.01 
			 2001 12.63 
			  Note:The figure for 2005 does not include staff leaving IND to go to posts in the central Home Office.

Departmental Staff

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) whole-time equivalent and  (b) temporary staff there are in (i) Immigration and Nationality Directorate and (ii) the National Asylum Seeker Support Service in each (A) region and (B) country; and how many there were in each category in each year since 2001.

Liam Byrne: The figures for  (a) whole-time equivalent staff and  (b) temporary staff in IND and the National Asylum Support Service (NASS), as at 31 March in each year, are provided in the table attached. These are provided by region from 2003 for permanent staff and from 2005 for temporary staff. Detailed figures for 2001 and 2002 and the requested breakdown by county are not available.
	
		
			  IND 
			   2003  2004  2004  2006 
			   FTE  Temp staff  FTE  Temp staff  FTE  Temp staff  FTE  Temp staff 
			 Croydon 5190 — 5463 — 4987 891 5142 1164 
			 Eastern 390 — 430 — 321 12 336 36 
			 Midlands 255 — 386 — 353 21 442 33 
			 North East 983 — 1390 — 1845 89 1942 0 
			 North West 1373 — 1580 — 1753 73 1824 124 
			 Scotland 166 — 200 — 253 7 260 20 
			 South East excluding Croydon 3308 — 4019 — 3591 78 3740 64 
			 South West 90 — 112 — 56 1 101 4 
			 Wales 44 — 77 — 92 4 90 5 
			 London 834 — 814 — 1355 207 1331 89 
			 Northern Ireland 11 — 12 — 13 1 15 5 
			 Overseas — — — — 18 0 49 2 
			 Other — — — — 50 48 7 184 
			 Total 12644 1457 14483 1220 14687 1432 15279 1730 
		
	
	
		
			  NASS 
			   2003  2004  2004  2006 
			   FTE  Temp staff  FTE  Temp staff  FTE  Temp staff  FTE  Temp staff 
			 Croydon 706 — 661 — 599 157 441 167 
			 Eastern 0 — 29 — 27 0 23 4 
			 Midlands 4 — 37 — 44 10 82 4 
			 North East 10 — 9 — 93 4 104 8 
			 North West 6 — 44 — 33 34 65 10 
			 Scotland 1 — 32 — 2 33 37 2 
			 South East excluding Croydon 0 — 22 — 28 1 33 1 
			 South West 2 — 18 — 2 8 24 0 
			 Wales 2 — 24 — 11 18 20 0 
			 London  — 31 — 20 2 6 2 
			 Northern Ireland — — — — 0 0 1 0 
			 Overseas — — — — 0 0 0 0 
			 Other — — — — 4 2 1 1 
			 Total 731 372 907 302 863 269 837 198

Domestic Violence

Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many domestic violence incidents dealt with by police in the last five years involved disputes regarding child contact.

Tony McNulty: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Domestic Violence

Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in how many domestic violence incidents dealt with by police in  (a) England and Wales,  (b) Luton and  (c) Bedfordshire in the last five years the children concerned were on the child protection register.

Tony McNulty: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Home Detention Curfews

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners released on home detention curfew have been recalled to prison in each year since 1999, broken down by reason for recall.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Information on the number of persons recalled to prison from Home Detention Curfew between 1999 and 2004, by reason for recall, can be found in table 10.7 of Home Office Statistical Bulletin 17/05: Offender Management Caseload Statistics, England and Wales, 2004. Copies of this publication can be found in the House of Commons Library.

Human Trafficking

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what additional safeguards he will put in place relating to trafficked children in the Action Plan for Tackling Human Trafficking.

Vernon Coaker: The Government are currently considering the responses to its consultation on its proposal to publish a National Action Plan for Tackling Human Trafficking. A Summary Report of responses will be published on 21 June 2006. Whilst a range of views were presented on tackling issues around child trafficking, the Government will fully consider these responses before it decides whether additional safeguards to protect trafficked children are needed. It aims to produce a final UK Action Plan later this year, after further discussions with stakeholders and other Government Departments and agencies, in order to build upon the proposals for action set out in the consultation paper.

Immigration and Nationality Directorate

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) posts,  (b) full-time equivalent posts and  (c) vacant posts there were at each civil service grade in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate on the most recent date for which information is available; and if he will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: The information is set out in the following table:
	
		
			  Table: Staff breakdown by headcount and full-time equivalent (FTE) 
			  Grade  Headcount  FTE 
			 Senior Civil Servant 45 45 
			 Grade 6 99 98 
			 Grade 7 387 374 
			 Senior Executive Officer (includes accountants) 641 616 
			 Her Majesty's Inspector (Immigration Officer grade) 220 212 
			 Higher Executive Officer (fast stream) 21 21 
			 Higher Executive Officer 1585 1521 
			 Chief Immigration Officer 847 813 
			 Immigration Officer 3562 3439 
			 Executive Officer 2831 2683 
			 Administrative Officer 3725 3499 
			 Assistant Immigration Officer 659 635 
			 Administrative Assistant 2087 1927 
			 Personal Secretaries (all typists) 198 187 
			 Support Grade 494 483 
			 Other (includes statisticians etc) 663 660 
			 Total 1,8064 1,7213.00 
			  Notes:1.Other includes various, (e.g. research and statistical grades), as well as staff whose grade is not recorded.2. FTE figures rounded to the nearest whole number.

Immigration and Nationality Directorate

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when Lin Homer was appointed director general of the immigration and nationality directorate; where the application for the job vacancy was advertised; how many applications were received for the position; and who made the final decision on the successful candidate.

Liam Byrne: Lin Homer was appointed as director general of the immigration and nationality directorate on 27 May 2005 and took up post on 1 August 2005. The post was advertised in the national press including the Sunday Telegraph, The Observer, The Guardian and the Daily Telegraph. It was also advertised on the Home Office jobs database and the civil service recruitment gateway. There were 40 applicants who responded to the advertisement. The appointment was approved by the Prime Minister with the agreement of the Home Secretary, on the recommendation of the head of the home civil service.

Immigration and Nationality Directorate

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what standard checks are made by the immigration and nationality directorate on their employees' right to work.

Liam Byrne: A range of pre-appointment checks are conducted for prospective employees including nationality and residence verification, immigration record checks and national security vetting.

Immigration and Nationality Directorate

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many joint meetings between the officials of the immigration and nationality directorate and Jobcentre Plus have taken place over the past five years.

Liam Byrne: Officials, at a variety of levels and locations, in the immigration and nationality directorate meet with their counterparts in Jobcentre Plus on a regular basis. There is no central record of the number or content of these meetings so it is not possible to state how many have taken place over the last five years.

Immigration and Nationality Directorate

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many members of staff at the Immigration and Nationality Directorate have been found not to have valid leave to remain in the United Kingdom in each of the last five years.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 6 June 2006
	The Department's records show that one member of staff of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate was detected as not having valid leave to remain in the United Kingdom in 2004.

Invest to Save

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he plans to meet  (a) officials of local authorities and  (b) other stakeholders in receipt of Invest to Save funding to discuss future funding of current projects when initial Home Office financing ends; and if he will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 8 June 2006
	My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has no current plans to visit any Invest to Save Budget (ISB) projects or to make a statement. However, he strongly supports the objectives of the ISB programme to create sustainable improvements in the capacity to deliver public services in a more joined up manner. An example of a project that has continued to receive funding from the Home Office is the joint working pilot between the National Missing Persons Helpline and the Metropolitan police from ISB round four.

Knife Crime

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures he is taking to reduce the incidence of knife crime in Peterborough constituency; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: On 24 May, working closely with ACPO, we launched the first 10 years. Cambridgeshire Police are participating in this amnesty, which provides an opportunity for the safe disposal of unwanted knives and sharp instruments. The amnesty highlights the dangers of carrying knives particularly to young people. The amnesty runs until the end of June, following which police will undertake robust enforcement as well as educational and other programmes.
	The Violent Crime Reduction Bill, currently before Parliament, includes measures to reduce knife crime, including the introduction of a new offence of using someone to mind a weapon; raising the age at which someone can be sold a knife from 16 to 18; and providing powers for head teachers to search pupils for weapons. We are also working closely with community organisations, providing support through the Connected Fund for gun, knife and gang related projects and supporting organisations such as Be Safe, which run a programme of education for young people on the risks of carrying knives.

Mosques

Laura Moffatt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps have been taken to support mosques in preventing their use by extreme fringe groups.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 6 June 2006
	A public consultation on taking powers to intervene in places of worship threatened by extremist activity concluded that self regulation was usually effective. Government have provided encouragement and support to the creation of a Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board. It expected to be launched in late June.

Neighbourhood Charters

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to ensure that the neighbourhood charters will be delivered by service providers.

Phil Woolas: I have been asked to reply.
	As set out in the Respect action plan, published in January 2006, we want to give every area the chance to have a neighbourhood charter. We intend to set out further detail about this in the Local Government White Paper.

Parliamentary Questions

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to reply to questions by the hon. Member for Selly Oak  (a) 23089, tabled on 25 October, on identity cards, and  (b) 20867, tabled on 18 October, on passports.

Joan Ryan: I answered the hon. Member for Selly Oak's question in relation to passports (20867) on 27 February 2006,  Official Report, column 95W. The hon. Members question in relation to identity cards (23089) was answered on 16 May 2006,  Official Report, column 829W.

Police Information

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what guidance was in operation in 1994 regarding the storage and destruction of information by police forces relating to detected crimes;
	(2)  under what circumstances police forces may destroy historic information relating to detected crimes;
	(3)  what guidance he has issued on the length of time that data collected by police forces relating to detected crimes should be held before being destroyed.

Tony McNulty: No central guidance was in operation in 1994 concerning the storage and destruction of information relating to detected crimes. Forces were, however, subject to the relevant legislation that was in place at that time and may have issued their own internal guidance. A Code of Practice on the Management of Police Information (MOPI) was published in July 2005 and came into effect in November 2005. This requires police information to be periodically reviewed and consideration given to its disposal or retention in line with criteria set out in guidance. Guidance to accompany the Code of Practice, agreed with the Information Commissioner, was published in March 2006. This requires that information be deleted where there is no longer a policing purpose for retaining it, i.e. it is no longer necessary; it is no longer adequate or up to date; or it is excessive or not proportionate to the risk.
	The guidance states that all records will normally be held for a minimum of six years, but lists a number of issues that forces should consider when deciding whether to retain records for longer. The MOP guidance states that historical data—which it defines as anything recorded prior to the date that the guidance came into effect—must be reviewed when the subject of a record comes to police attention, and that resources dedicated to reviewing other historical records should focus on information relating to certain public protection matters.
	Retention of information must also be in line with relevant legislation including the Human Rights Act 1998, the Data Protection act 1998, the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 and Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Prisons

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has the prison population been in each of the last five years.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Information on the number of prisoners held in prison establishments from 1994 to 2004 can be found in table 8.1 of Home Office Statistical Bulletin 17/05: Offender Management Caseload Statistics, England and Wales, 2004. Copies of this publication can be found in the House of Commons Library. The prison population on 30 June 2005 was 76,190.

Probation

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the  (a) number of staff and  (b) financial resources required to implement end to end offender management in the probation service; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: We expect offender management to be resource neutral over the long- term, with any costs balanced by savings arising from the benefits of the system. There will be start-up costs in 2006-07 and 2007-08, totalling some £8 million, before full.-savings start to be seen. The costs translate into around 90 posts in 2006-07 and 120 in 2007-08.

Re-offending Target

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his Department is on track to meet its public service agreement target of reducing re-offending by five per cent. by 2006.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The latest formal assessment on progress is set out in the Home Office Autumn Performance Report 2005 (Cm 6707). Since this assessment juvenile re-offending results from 2004 have been made available. The report shows the re-offending rates within one year for juvenile offenders who receive pre-court disposals, non-custodial disposals and those released from custody in the first quarter of 2004. The results show a 3.8 per cent reduction in re-offending when compared to the same period in 1997 and a reduction of 1.4 per cent. when compared to 2000. The full results are available on line at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs06/hosb1006.pdf. The Government remain committed to reducing re-offending by 5 per cent. by 2006 and to further reductions in the future.

Shoplifting

Si�n James: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what steps his Department is taking to promote collaboration between police forces in England and Wales and private security offices based in retail stores to help reduce incidents of shoplifting;
	(2)  what steps his Department is taking to reduce shoplifting in retail stores;
	(3)  how many people were  (a) arrested and  (b) convicted for shoplifting in the South Wales police area in each of the last two years.

Tony McNulty: Most recent information held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform on the number of defendants found guilty of shoplifting in the South Wales police force area in 2003 and 2004 are 1,671 for 2003 and 1,712 in 2004. The information requested on arrests is not available centrally. There are a number of ways in which private security offices may engage with local police forces. Usually this is through active involvement with crime reduction partnerships, many of which are tailored specifically to address the needs of the business sector. The Home Office has supported the work of the British Retail Consortium in developing business crime reduction partnerships, and has provided over 900,000 of funding for them to set up and run the Action Against Business Crime (AABC) Group. This Group provides central co-ordination and support for a national network of business crime reduction partnerships in town centres, shopping centres and industrial estates across England and Wales in their work to prevent business crime. The Home Office also encourages businesses to set up 'Business Watch' schemes in their area, or to consider involvement in the business improvement district (BID) scheme. There is an accredited Business Crime Partnership in the 'Safer Swansea' Community Safety Partnership. One of the first actions of the partnership was to set up a panel which included local businesses and independent members to consider whether those caught shoplifting should be banned from the city centre shopping area. The scheme has been successful and will be rolled out to other retail sites in the borough. Additionally, South Wales police have been actively promoting the ShopWatch scheme in Swansea, which encourages shop staff to train as special constables in their area of employment.

Stop and Search Records

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what  (a) computer systems and  (b) databases of the Metropolitan police stop and search records are maintained; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: The Commissioner is responsible for the day-to-day operational management of the force. I will therefore redirect your query to the Metropolitan Police Service.

Yarl's Wood Detention Centre

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much it cost to keep  (a) a child and  (b) a family of two adults and two children in Yarl's Wood detention centre for one week in the last 12 months.

Liam Byrne: Service at Yarl's Wood are provided by private contractors and as such the information requested is strictly commercial and confidential.

Zimbabwe

Richard Benyon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the 12 applications from Zimbabwe for indefinite leave to remain under the UK Ancestral Visa route which have been refused were refused because of fraud.

Liam Byrne: I am advised that 52 applications for indefinite leave to remain under the UK Ancestral Visa route remain under consideration. Completion dates depend on the time required for proper and thorough scrutiny. Our database does not provide details of individual reasons why cases have been refused.

Benefits

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what progress is being made in improving processing times for disability benefit claims.

Anne McGuire: Processing times for disability living allowance (DLA) and attendance allowance (AA) claims have improved steadily over the last four years. For DLA, it has gone from 42 working days in 2002-03, to 34.5 working days in 2005-06. For AA claims it has gone from 24.2 working days in 2002-03 to 17.9 working days in 2005-06.
	The Disability and Carers Service has achieved this by identification, development and sharing of best practice, the continued exploitation of information technology, and the streamlining of business processes. This has secured continuous improvement in our service delivery to customers together with improved efficiency.
	The average processing time for incapacity benefit claims for the year ending March 2006 was 16.3 days, against a benchmark of 19 days. From April 2006, incapacity benefit processing times have been incorporated into a new Jobcentre Plus target covering processing times for incapacity benefit, jobseeker's allowance and income support. Performance for incapacity benefit in April 2006 was 17.3 days against a target of 18 days.
	Jobcentre Plus has a programme of work to improve the way that it processes all benefit claims. It is addressing variations in processing times in specific locations and taking action to clear backlogs.
	For industrial injuries disablement benefit, the Department aims to clear 90 per cent. of claims within 175 days. For the year ending March 2006, 96.1 per cent. of claims were processed within 175 days. In April 2006, 97.6 per cent of claims were processed within 175 days.

Child Poverty

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans the Government have to review the way they measure child poverty and those who qualify as the poorest within the category of families living below 60 per cent. of median income since publication of the most recent figures on child poverty.

Jim Murphy: Our long-term strategy to meet the child poverty target remains as set out in 'Opportunity for all' and in the Child Poverty Review, which was published alongside the 2004 Spending Review White Paper.
	A consultation around measuring child poverty was published in 'Measuring Child Poverty' in December 2003. This outlines the Government's measure of UK child poverty for the long term and will be used to measure progress against the 2010 target.
	This consists of:
	Absolute low incometo measure whether the poorest families are seeing their incomes rise in real terms;
	Relative low incometo measure whether the poorest families are keeping pace with the growth of incomes in the economy as a whole; and
	Material deprivation and low income combinedto provide a wider measure of people's living standards and includes a higher low-income threshold of 70 per cent. of median income.
	From next year we will be collating those material deprivation figures. The material deprivation tier will not only give a wider measure of people's living standards, but it will also capture elements of persistent and severe poverty, as highlighted in the final conclusions of the child poverty consultation.
	We remain firmly committed to our challenging goals to halve and then eradicate child poverty, and we are not resting on our laurels. We are currently re-examining our strategy for meeting the 2010 target, including a reinforcement of our labour market policies, complemented by increases in tax credits, and further improvements in public services.
	All publications listed are available in the Library.

Child Support Agency

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the current backlog is of child support cases waiting to be assessed.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is the matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Hilary Reynolds:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. Given that he is currently on leave, I am responding on his behalf.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the current backlog is of child support cases waiting to be assessed.
	In March 2006, there were around 304,000 cases that had yet to receive an assessment or calculation.
	Please note that this number is different from the total number of cases waiting to be cleared, which stood at 333,000 in March 2006. This is because new scheme cases are only considered cleared when they have received a calculation and have a payment schedule in place. In March 2006, there were around 29,000 new scheme cases that had received a calculation, but were awaiting a payment schedule.
	Although the total volume of uncleared cases fell by 8% between January 2005 and March 2006, the Agency recognises that this remains unacceptably high. The Agency therefore has a 2006/07 target to ensure that, by March 2007, the volume of new scheme uncleared applications outstanding at March 2006 is reduced by 25%.
	I hope you find this helpful.

Child Support Agency

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many parents assessed under the old system of child support are still making payments to their children.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is the matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Hilary Reynolds:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. Given that he is currently on leave, I am responding on his behalf.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many parents assessed under the old system of child support are still making payments to their children.
	The Agency records information in terms of cases rather parents. My answer is therefore provided on this basis.
	At the end of March 2006, there were 305,000 old scheme cases on the old computer system (CSCS) where a Full Maintenance Assessment had been carried out, and a positive maintenance liability had been established. Of these:
	Payment was received in 152,000 cases.
	A further 61,000 cases had a Maintenance Direct arrangement in place. This means that although the Agency has established the appropriate amount due, the non-resident parent will pay the parent with care directly, without the need for the Agency to collect money.
	In addition, there were 86,000 old scheme cases where a Full Maintenance Assessment had been carried out, and a positive maintenance liability had been established that were operating on the new computer system (CS2). Of these:
	Payment was received in 34,000 cases.
	A further 9,000 cases had a Maintenance Direct arrangement in place.
	I hope you find this helpful.

Child Support Agency

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a further statement on progress towards overcoming the computer problems at the Child Support Agency.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Mr. Stephen Geraghty. He will write to my right hon. Friend with the information requested.
	 Letter from Hilary Reynolds:
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make a further statement on progress towards overcoming the computer problems at the Child Support Agency.
	The new child support scheme was introduced on 3 March 2003. It has been well publicised that there has been a number of technical problems with the performance of the new computer system (CS2) from this date.
	A great deal of work has been carried out over recent years to improve the stability of the new computer system (CS2) and operational performance has improved to the point where contracted service levels are now consistently being met.
	We are making good progress to remedy the remaining problems with the new computer system and future IT releases are planned during 2006 and 2007 to resolve various system performance issues and build on the improvements already made. In addition there are a number of planned enhancements to the computer system that form part of the programme to implement the three-year Operational Improvement Plan.
	I hope you find this helpful.

Child Support Agency

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many non-resident parents receiving benefits which the Child Support Agency has a claim against, are not paying the minimum payment required under the new scheme.

James Plaskitt: holding answer 12 June 2006
	The administration of the Child Support Agency is the matter for the chief executive. He will write to the right hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Hilary Reynolds:
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many non-resident parents currently receiving benefits which the Child Support Agency has a claim against, are not paying the minimum payment required under the new scheme.
	The Agency records information in terms of cases rather parents. My answer is therefore provided on this basis.
	In order to obtain the benefit status of non-resident parents associated with new scheme cases, it has been necessary to match data from the Agency's administrative systems with data from the benefit records system administered by Jobcentre Plus. The latter set of administrative data is published quarterly, and the latest information available is for November 2005.
	At the end of November 2005, there were 70,000 new scheme cases involving a non-resident parent (NRP) in receipt of Income Support, Jobseeker's Allowance or Incapacity Benefit in which maintenance was due. Of these, maintenance was not received from 38,000 cases.
	It should be noted that there are also a small number of Non Resident Parents (the number of which cannot be quantified) who receive other benefits against which the Agency has a claim; namelyRetirement Pension, Pension Credit, Bereavement Allowance, Widowed Parents Allowance/Pension, Incapacity Benefit, Carer's Allowance, Severe Disablement Allowance, Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit, Maternity Allowance, War Disablement or War Widows Pension, also certain training allowances. However, it is not possible to provide information on maintenance collected from these cases.

Child Support Agency

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many Child Support Agency cases remain to be transferred from the old scheme to the new scheme.

James Plaskitt: holding answer 12 June 2006
	The administration of the Child Support Agency is the matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the right hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Hilary Reynolds dated 19 June 2006:
	In reply to your recent parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. Given that he is currently on leave, I am responding on his behalf.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Child Support Agency cases remain to be transferred from the old scheme to the new scheme.
	At the end of March 2006 there were 923,000 old scheme cases. There were 600,000 cases on the old computer system (CSCS). There are 322,000 cases on the new computer system (CS2); these are cases that have been reactively migrated due to being linked to the new scheme cases.
	Of those old scheme cases that had been reactively migrated from the old system to the new system, we estimate that around 41,000 cases had relevant links to the new scheme cases and have now been converted. We estimate that a further 48,000 cases also have relevant links and are currently awaiting conversion.
	I hope you find this helpful.

Departmental Computer Security

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the security of Chip and PIN access to his Department's computer systems; and how many breaches of that security there have been since its introduction.

Jim Murphy: The Department does not offer a Chip and PIN service for access to the Department's computer systems. The term Chip and PIN is normally used in the context of high street retail purchases.
	Payments made to citizens via post offices can be made using a Chip and PIN capability, but this is managed by a third party.
	Access to internal departmental systems is controlled using a desktop smartcard infrastructure which is a completely separate device to that used to enable citizen payments. The DWP security incident recording database records details of incidents investigated by DWP. There are no incidents recorded where the Chip and PIN security has been compromised.

Jobcentre Plus Premises

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what audits have been conducted to evaluate the accessibility of JobCentre Plus premises for disabled people at  (a) Burslem and  (b) Hanley offices; and when such audits were undertaken.

Jim Murphy: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. She will write to the hon. Member.
	 Letter from Lesley Strathie:
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking what audits have been conducted to evaluate the accessibility of Jobcentre Plus premises for disabled people at Burslem and Hanley offices; and when such audits were undertaken. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	As part of the process to convert Jobcentres to Jobcentre Plus offices an 'accessibility evaluation' is carried out when we consider the design of the office. When planning a new office or new layout, we take full account of the Disability Discrimination Act and ensure any recommendations, such as ramps or automatic doors, are built into the final design of the office. All of our new, purpose built offices comply with building regulations that cover all access issues.
	We carried out audits at Cannon Street, Hanley and Burslem Jobcentres in December 2003 following the creation of Jobcentre Plus, Any adjustments recommended at that time were considered alongside our roll out plans for conversion to Jobcentre Plus offices, taking into account the Disability Discrimination Act requirements. We completed an audit at our office in Stafford Street, Hanley in June 1999 and all resulting recommendations were implemented.
	As you know, our office in Stafford Street, Hanley is to become a Benefit Delivery Centre and will not be open to the public. The Jobcentres in Cannon Street, Hanley and Burslem are due to close when our new purpose built Jobcentre Plus office in Huntbach Street, Hanley opens in 2007.
	I hope this is helpful.

New Deal for 50 Plus

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on recent changes in the financing of the New Deal for 50 Plus scheme; and what assessment he has made of levels of participation in the scheme since the changes were introduced.

Jim Murphy: Since its introduction in April 2000, the only significant change that has occurred to New Deal 50 plus funding was in April 2003 when the New Deal 50 plus Employment Credit, paid by Jobcentre Plus, was replaced by the 50 plus element of the Working Tax Credit, paid by H.M. Revenue and Customs. Incorporating the in-work incentive for over 50s into the tax credit system ensured that those households on the lowest income received the most support, rather than flat-rate payments being made regardless of personal circumstances.
	Until March 2003, Employment Credit payments formed the bulk of the New Deal 50 plus programme spend, together with the New Deal 50 plus in-work Training Grant. In 2003-04 the programme spend for New Deal 50 plus still included the remaining Employment Credit payments but, by the 2004-05 financial year, all the New Deal 50 plus Employment Credit starts had completed and all that remained was the spend on the training grant.
	Centrally recorded data on starts to the New Deal 50 plus programme is only available from January 2004 onwards. Information before this is not available as the data was not centrally held.
	Between the start of the programme to February 2006, New Deal 50 plus has been successful in helping more than 150,000 people into jobs.

Pathways to Work

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average size of the caseload for personal advisers will be once Pathways to Work is fully rolled out.

Jim Murphy: holding answer 13 June 2006
	The information requested is not available.
	Personal adviser caseloads vary according to the adviser's knowledge and experience of advisory work and the client group. Therefore decisions about an indicia! Adviser's caseload can only be decided at local level.
	We want to ensure Pathways to Work advisers focus their efforts on helping and supporting people on incapacity benefits into work. Managers in current Pathways to Work pilot areas regularly monitor adviser caseloads to ensure they are manageable and enable customers to maximise their work opportunities. This will continue when Pathways is rolled out nationally.

Pension Credit

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the take-up rate of pension credit was among pensioners in Newport East in  (a) 2003-04 and  (b) the latest year for which figures are available.

James Purnell: The information is not available in the format requested. Estimates of eligibility, and therefore of take-up, are not available below the level of Great Britain. Actual figures for receipt of pension credit at constituency level are available.
	The number of households in receipt of pension credit in Newport East is in the following table.
	
		
			   Household recipients 
			 November 2003 2,570 
			 November 2004 3,380 
			 November 2005 3,540 
			 Notes:  1. Caseloads are rounded to the nearest 10.  2. Parliamentary constituencies are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant ONS postcode directory.  3. Recipients are those people who claim pension credit either on behalf of themselves only or on behalf of a household. This number is equal to the number of households in receipt of pension credit.   Source:  DWP Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.

Post Office Card Accounts

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on what occasions  (a) officials from his Department and its agencies and  (b) persons acting on their behalf have undertaken cold-calling exercises to members of the public (i) asking for their bank details, (ii) encouraging them to switch their post office card account to a bank account and (iii) discouraging them from having a post office card account; how many members of the public were called for each purpose; and who authorised the making of such calls.

James Plaskitt: The Department for Work and Pensions ran a number of small-scale post office card account pilots between 13 February and 10 March 2006. The pilots tested various approaches to moving people from having their benefit or pension paid into a post office card account to payments into a bank account.
	The pilots were authorised by Ministers. I informed the House of the pilots in a written answer on 15 February 2006,  Official Report, column 2187W. They were fully in keeping with the contract between my Department and Post Office Limited which states: The POCA is intended to be an interim step for Account Holders who will be encouraged by both parties to migrate to Bank Accounts which provide services and opportunities not available through the POCA. I have also placed a copy of the relevant part of the contract in the Library.
	The pilots involved:
	not promoting the option to open a new post office card account for around 3,000 customers making a new claim for jobseeker's allowance, state pension or pension credit;
	writing to around 25,000 customers paid by post office card account asking them to supply account details. This pilot involved some follow-up telephone calls to check if customers had received their letter and to see if they had any questions or needed help or support to open a new account; and
	writing to around 1,500 customers who have one benefit paid into a post office card account and another into a bank account saying that we intended to pay both their benefits into their bank account.
	A month or so after the pilots had finished we re-contacted around 350 people across the three pilot groups to learn more about their experience.
	We have just finished evaluating the results and have shared the results with Post Office Limited. I will place a summary report of the findings in the Library shortly.

Prison Release

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what action his Department is taking to improve the job prospects of those recently released from prison.

Jim Murphy: We offer support to offenders in a number of ways to improve their job prospects. Employment and benefit surgeries in prisons provide prisoners with interviews with Jobcentre Plus Advisers prior to release to discuss employment and training opportunities. Our Freshstart programme guarantees a pre-arranged interview for prisoners who wish to claim Jobseeker's Allowance as soon as possible on release at which jobs, training and benefits are discussed.
	Offenders, together with others facing the most severe disadvantage in the labour market, are included in one of the priority groups within the Jobcentre Plus target and performance structure. This ensures our advisers are encouraged to provide particular help and support to people who have additional barriers to work. Because of their disadvantage in the labour market, offenders can also gain early entry into our New Deal programme, which can provide them with the training and skills needed to get a job.
	Our progress2work LinkUP programme is designed to help those with multiple disadvantage, including offenders and ex-offenders, overcome the particular employment barriers they face. Jobcentre Plus Advisers and other relevant agencies refer customers to specialist providers who work with prisons and local probation services to encourage offenders to make use of their services. The programme helps people get and sustain employment and is currently available in 15 Jobcentre Plus districts. We expect provision to be available in a further six districts by the end of the summer.
	In partnership with the Home Office and the Department for Education and Skills, the December 2005 Green Paper, 'Reducing Re-offending Through Skills and Employment', announced proposals for further work. For example, working with local employers to help offenders into jobs, and supporting Jobcentre Plus to focus on helping offenders into work rather then placing them on benefits.

Social Fund

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many telephone calls have been  (a) answered and  (b) missed by the new telephone hotline service for social fund loans in the South West since its inception; how urgent inquiries are dealt with; and why the service is not free to the user.

Jim Murphy: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. She will write to my hon. Friend.
	 Letter from Lesley Strathie:
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question concerning how many telephone calls have been (a) answered and (b) missed by the new telephone hotline service for Social Fund in the South West since its inception; how urgent enquiries are dealt with and why the service is not free to the user.
	Jobcentre Plus in the South West Region do not currently operate a hotline for the Social Fund. The South West region is planning to centralise Social Fund processing in Bristol. Some limited centralisation has already taken place, including moving the processing of Social Fund claims from customers living in Gloucestershire to Bristol.
	Customers living in Gloucestershire who want to apply in person for a payment from the Social Fund normally approach their local Jobcentre office in the first instance. Staff at the Jobcentre will then telephone the Social Fund team in South Bristol. There are 10 extensions available for Jobcentre Plus staff to call, however if staff have problems getting through the customer may be given the direct telephone number to try again later.
	Although direct calls to these numbers by customers is not free there are plans to introduce 0800 and 0845 numbers in 2007 as part of the centralisation of Social Fund work.
	If customers wish to apply for a Crisis Loan for living expenses from the Social Fund they can do this in person at their local office by completing an application form, a decision is usually made on the same day.
	I hope this is helpful.

Worklessness (Liverpool)

Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has for addressing worklessness in Liverpool, Riverside.

Jim Murphy: holding answer 5 June 2006
	Since 1997 claimant unemployment in Liverpool Riverside has fallen by 38 per cent. the number of lone parents on benefit has fallen by 24 per cent and the number of incapacity benefits recipients has begun to fall. The New Deal has helped nearly 5,000 into work. However we recognise that there is more to do, in Liverpool Riverside and the country as a whole.
	Our recently published Green Paper 'A new deal for welfare: Empowering people to work' sets out our Cities Strategy proposals for piloting new initiatives to help local organisations work together to improve economic regeneration through skills, employment and health. From 2007, the 'Cities' pathfinders will be charged with increasing employment and reducing social exclusion in our most deprived communities. Each area will be asked to develop a consortium with a shared interest in working together to raise employment rates and improve the economy. This may include local authorities, employers, learning and skills councils, regional development agencies, primary care trusts and Jobcentre Plus. The key aim of this initiative will be to provide solutions that offer the maximum degree of flexibility, so that local areas can provide local solutions to local problems.
	This approach will provide a real focus for local efforts to help people move back into work, so that the current patchwork of programmes and support, provided by a number of organisations can be delivered in a more integrated, individually-focused and locally responsive way.